The Legend of Fodlan
by Leirbag15
Summary: By leaving his homeland, he had hoped to revitalize his life, to find the excitement of his evil-fighting days once again. When he finds himself at Garreg Mach, he finds himself involved in a story which will fulfill his wishes, for better and for worse.
1. Ch 1 - Prologue

**Author's notes:**

**Since I am relatively new at writing, any sort of constructive criticism is appreciated. Is there something that you liked or not? Do you have an observation about the story? Feel free to post reviews all you want.**

**Also, we've got a TvTropes page for _The Legend of Fodlan_, feel free to add to it as much as you want!**

* * *

Part one: Getting out of Hyryle

Foddlan year 1174

The weather was bright and sunny in this mundane afternoon of the Zora Kingdom. On the rocky beach of the calm river which ran just at south of the land of the lively fish people, there was not much activity, as usual.

Well, that was if you did not count the odd group of people who were currently in a small break beside the wooden construct that they had already almost finished.

In the shadows of a nearby rock formation were sitting a familiar blonde Hylian, as well as his best friend, a gigantic red Zora.

The latter had just come back from a refreshing swimming tour, which was pretty useful for him to avoid dehydration. It was rare, after all, for a Zora to have to work under such conditions. In fact, he was probably the only one present who would have rather had a rainy day to work.

The young warrior at his side was wearing an old pair of pants that looked torn up at their bottom. While he did not wear a top of any kind, he had strapped a magically iced sword to himself to help him support the heat. His hair had become pretty long, not having been tamed in a few months at least, and a short blonde beard was beginning to form on his face. His Zora friend had joked that puberty had finally gotten to him after a literal century.

Not far from them were a young white-haired woman and a middle-aged Rito. The latter was playing his latest tune while the Sheika girl merely stuck around him, listening to his music. It must be said, however, that she could not help but peek out of her bare-chested friend from time to time, when she thought he wouldn't be looking back. In truth, these two could not actually be said to be taking a break, as their role on this beach was more to provide moral support to their two friends than to contribute to their physical labor in any meaningful way.

After the Hylian had finished his quick snack, composed of a semi-dozen apples and a potion which, according to him, would increase his strength, he and his aquatic companion resumed their work while they made some small talk, the Zora beginning first.

"Hey, Link, we still didn't settle on a name for your ship, did we?"

The blonde, in response, lifted his eyebrows as he inspected the hull before he shrugged and looked back.

"I have never really thought about one, to be honest. What do you think?"

"Well, then, my old friend, I happen to have the perfect idea!"

The mountain of a Zora then proceeded to chuckle like a child before he lifted his fist up near his chest and performed the toothiest, and yet most charming grin you could ever imagine.

"We should name it some combination of our names, since we built it together! This way, you would also have a reminder of our good times together."

At this, the Hylian could not help but snicker as he tapped his ship.

"With Link and Sidon? What kind of name do you do with that? Sink?"

As Sidon's expression dropped slightly at this realization, the blonde let out an amused chuckle, but then became pensive. After a few seconds, he nodded his head and exclaimed.

"You know what? I like the idea. Sink it is!"

"Wait, what? Are you sure that you wouldn't want to think of a better name?" Sidon was looking quite dumbfounded, but his gaze was drifting due to him still thinking of an appropriate name for a boat, not that he really thought he could make his friend change his mind.

"No, I said that I like it."

"But… why?"

At this, though, Link let of a loud laughter that grabbed the attention of his two other friends posted a bit farther.

"I never ask 'Why', Sidon. I always ask: 'Why not'!"

"Well, maybe because we could name it anything else that the very thing it is not supposed to do… Why wouldn't we name it something like Hyrule's Might instead?"

"Because this is quite a stupid name, and I like the irony of the first one. I might be tempting fate, but even if Sink does just that, sink, then I have at least four stamina meals stored, so I'll be fine swimming back to the shore."

Sidon then shrugged, now used to the Hylian's quirks, and used his claws to carve the ship's chosen name on the prow. Now that it was identified and after a good hour of further inspection, the duo then tested it on the waters to see if it did as its newfound name would imply, and to the Hylian's pleasure, it didn't.

Before they announced it to their companions, however, Sidon took a look at his blonde friend with a concerned expression on his face.

"And… how did the princess take it, in the end?"

Link's expression briefly sombered, before he adopted a more neutral one.

"Not well. She began rambling about me protecting her and me abandoning my duty, and all of this kind of things… Then, I told her I wasn't her servant anymore and that I wouldn't help her in her politics anyway…"

He then took a long breath before he began rambling himself, which was quite surprising for his Zora friend.

"With her, it's always 'do this' and 'go there', and I'm getting sick of it, if I'm going to be honest. I may have put up with that before, but that was _before_ I got some taste of freedom. I do not want to just stick with someone's hide anymore. At least, even if there's not really anything interesting to do here, I can still decide of where I go and what I do. Besides, it's not like she needs me for protection. Blood Moons have practically stopped, I have nearly driven most dangerous monsters to extinction, and the Yiga haven't shown their butts around in years."

Silence then imposed itself after this little venting out as Sidon uncomfortably tried to imagine what the poor woman must have been feeling at that very moment. Her sentiments for Link weren't exactly a secret for anyone who knew the two, even for Link himself. Her love for him had been the catalyst for awakening her latent powers fighting the Calamity for a century.

However, when Link had woken up from his slumber, well… the man he had been before had died long ago. He didn't even remember anyone of his former life, apart for some scarce memories he managed to recover. When the two reunited, Link was a completely different person. From the loyal and reserved vassal that she had grown to love, he had become a rash goofball and, most of all, a free spirit like none other. For the Godesses' sake, he had tried beating up Ganon itself to death with a wooden spoon just because the Hylian thought it would be funny. Only the improvised weapon's limited durability had prevented him from going through with that plan.

Even with her so blatant feelings for him, however, Link found himself unable to reciprocate them. He didn't dislike her, far from it, but he still couldn't feel love for someone he only had very vague memories of at best.

"In other words, she wasn't happy. At least, we could say goodbye properly. There's just you guys I didn't actually salute yet."

"I see… Will you sail right now or tomorrow?"

"The way I see it, the faster I can find another land to mess around in, the better. It's just a shame that no one would come with me, though."

Sidon sighed slightly at his friend's complaint before he place a hand on his shoulder in sympathy.

"To be fair… everyone you know has a life to lead, here. I'm the heir of the Zora's throne, Kass has a family to take care of, and Paya, well… I think here's the farthest she ever went from Kakahiro Village."

The blonde Hylian nodded slowly. It was not that he was upset to go away all by himself – heck, he's pretty much been living by himself for the last few years, now, and he quite enjoyed it. No, the thing was that, for as much as he liked to wander around in the wilderness for days straight, there was always a time where he felt the need to go back to civilization and actually interact with people, be it the calm village of Kakahiro, the goofballs that were the Gorons, Kass' adorable family, these lovable misfits from Tarrey Town…

… or yet, Zelda who was now living in the house he'd bought in… some town whose name he couldn't recall.

Now that he had grown bored and he was going to sail away like this, well… it was going to be hard, no doubt. To leave all of these people he had fought alongside with, had saved, or just pleasantly made acquaintances with…

Not that Link ever chose the easy way to do things.

"Yeah, I guess. In any case, I still have my Plate, if I ever feel homesick, I'll just have to teleport back into Hyrule." The blonde man was tapping slightly on his Sheika Plate, always strapped around his hips as he said so to emphasize his point. Sidon simply looked over to the near ocean and then back at his friend.

"So, you're going to tell them your goodbyes or..?"

"Oh, yes, sure. Just give me a minute."

Link then moved out to the Sheika woman and the Rito bard who had been observing the working duo for a while now. They seemed to have understood what Link was going to do and got up to meet him mid-ways.

First, he turned to the massive bird man who was giving the young Hylian the kindest smile his beak would allow him to perform. Link bowed slightly as he pronounced his departing words to the Rito.

"Kass, after I'm gone, can you do me a small favor?"

"Yes? What would it be?" Said Kass in his usual, gently tone as he lifted an eyebrow at Link's sudden request.

"If you do a song about me, I would like if you kept my crazy side in it, just to stay true to the source, you know?"

The larger man chuckled softly as he bowed in return.

"Doing otherwise would be a disgrace to your character, I believe." The Rito bard then looked up in the sky with an air of melancholy. "We have both travelled a lot in our lives, Master Link, and so I understand why you would wish to discover what has been hiding over Hyrule's boundaries after all this time. No matter how your new adventures turn out, however, know that you are always welcome back home if you wish." Hylian and Rito slightly nodded at each other as the former now faced his Sheika friend and, for a fraction of a second, almost regretted it.

Her face was blushing red as she took deep breaths to calm herself down, prompting Link to let out a silent sigh. Her love for him was not any more subtle than Zelda's, quite the contrary, in fact.

"Paya, I know that you have a lot of responsibilities, now, with your grandmother's time coming up. I'm sure that you'll make a great leader."

'_Just try not to fluster every time a young man comes around, though'_

In response, the Shieka woman glanced to the side, avoiding Link's own gaze as she breathed in and weakly smiled.

"I'm going to miss you, Link. Everyone will." Her breathing pace was slowly but surely accelerating as she tried to establish her exact sentiments, but her throat tightened before she could go on.

Link was having the impression of watching a puppy getting kicked as she struggled to put her goodbyes into words. In a rare occasion of emotional openness from the young Hylian, he took a step forward and threw his arms forward. Before the mortified Paya could react, Link had wrapped her up in a tight embrace, gently patting her back as she began to sob. After quietly crying over his shoulder for a minute, she finally regained control over her emotions and distanced from Link. The latter, looking quite down himself, attempted to reassure her.

"I will miss all of you too. Don't worry, I'll come back someday, and that day, I may even settle down once and for all, who knows?" He then looked in the direction of the ocean, a brief look of apprehension passing through his face before being replaced by redoubled determination. "Until then, though, make me a promise, alright?"

Paya then performed a quick nod, eager to hear his request.

"Don't wait for me for your life to go on. I can't be sure of when my return will be, and in any case, you'll be happier if you can find the strength to move past me, okay?"

The Sheika's excited expression sombered once more and, lowering her gaze, she shook her head.

"I'll try… I promise you."

During this exchange, Kass had contented himself with observing the situation being resolved, but he could see that both young people were getting more and more sad from their interaction. The worst part for the Rito was that if Link hadn't let his thirst for novelty and adventures get the better of him, he _could_ have settled down in peace, with pretty much anyone he could have wanted. From what he saw, Paya would have been quite tolerant of his peculiarities.

After the depressing exchange, Kass tried to change the mood.

"Now, Master Link, if I may ask you, where did you intend to go? Were you travelling to the plains at the North?"

"Actually, no. I'm going to the west of the Gerudo Desert. From there, I'll travel North and circle around Hyrule. I've never been able to reach these grounds, and that's made me quite curious about them. When that's done, I'll either go deeper into the continent or go to the East; I've spotted a few islands at quite the distance from here." The Hylian, while lacking his usual over-excitement, had still somewhat recovered his enthusiasm.

"I see. So, you are not actually going this far as of yet, at the very least. In any case, I hope everything goes well for you."

"Same for me, friends. Until we meet again!"

Following these words, Link returned to his makeshift boat, which was patiently waiting for he and Sidon to push it back into the river. As he arrived, his Zora friend glanced at him with a pitying face. A quick look from Link, however, told him that he did not want any more negativity for the moment, and the two sent 'Sink' into the water.

As the ship began to move to the East, Link turned back to his friends on the shore to wave at them one last time. Sidon was lifting his fist in the air enthusiastically while grinning as wide as he could, while Paya's waving was far more timid and, if Link had to guess, she was trying not to cry. Kass, for his part, had taken flight and circled around him before taking a spot further down the river and began to play the very first tune Link had heard him playing, which he affectionately called the 'theme of Kass'.

It took a few minutes before the pleasant tune went out of earshot, and at that moment Link felt, no he knew, that his adventures had now only just begun.

* * *

Part 2: A Mercenary's Daughter

Foddlan year: 1174

It was rather late in the night in the usually calm town of the Gloucester's territory, and yet there seemed to be an aura of festivity surrounding it. One could feel the walls of the houses literally trembling with the loudness of the music in the tavern, but mostly of the sheer energy of those assembled there.

Indeed, it was a day of celebration: the group of bandits that had plagued the village had been driven off at long last and the ones who defeated them were all too content to be welcomed as heroes for the night, if it meant that they could get a few drinks for free. The tavern of the town was crowded to a point where the revelers almost had to take care not to push each other outside.

At the same time, however, the rest of the village found itself quite tranquil, apart from the bombastic noise coming from the club and the occasional children or teenagers profiting of their parents' drinking night to get out and roam freely as they pleased. Sitting on the stairs leading to the town-hall was one of these teens, although not one native from the place itself.

The blue-haired young woman had taken this spot nearly after the beginning of the festivities, patiently waiting for her father and his comrades to finish their party so they could depart and go… wherever they would have their next job. As the night went on, however, she slowly realized that at the current way the mercenaries were celebrating, they would certainly need at least two or three days of hangover before they could actually travel again. Thus, she decided to make some use of her time and she withdrew her dagger and inspected it before starting to polish it.

Byleth did not really mind if she was to spend her night alone. In fact, she vastly preferred passing her time taking care of her weapon than to join the drunkards that were her companions. She lifted her eyes slightly in the direction of the tavern as she thought of them, an extremely rare shadow of a smile passing along her features as she could hear her father yelling inside.

Her peaceful evening was interrupted, however, when in the corner of her eyes she noticed a silhouette approaching. She quickly jerked her head to the side, in order to see if it was a foe of some kind, but her feeling of urgency died down just as fast.

Another girl, of around her age if Byleth had to guess, was now standing merely a few meters from her, observing the young mercenary with a bizarre mix of uneasiness and admiration. By these orange hair and eyes of hers, Byleth immediately knew who she was.

Leonie, the impressable teenager that had taken a liking on her father as he and their group had established camp near the village while they planned the attack on the bandits. He seemed to have appreciated her company as well, since he had passed his free time here by training her into basic spear handling, and he even made Byleth and her spar once to let her see how someone more experienced went at it, and probably to force his daughter to socialize for once.

While these thoughts passed through the young mercenary's mind, she realized that Leonie was becoming more and more uncomfortable, possibly because the former was intently staring at the latter with the emotionless expression that was usual of her. While she wasn't very good at emoting and interacting with people, Byleth was still quite capable of reading someone's eyes and overall features, and she decided that the villager girl must want to talk with her.

"Goodnight. What do you want?" Leonie flinched slightly as the blue-haired girl spoke, but she quickly retook control of herself and acquiesced before responding.

"I just wanted to talk with you a bit, but you seemed busy, so…" There was a short silence as the orange teen tried to evaluate Byleth's mood, which proved to be quite the task. "Were you?"

"Not particularly. What did you want to say?" As she said this, the young mercenary put her dagger right back into place as Leonie watched over to the tavern with wonder in her eyes.

"How is it… you know, to be the daughter of Jeralt?"

After a few seconds of thinking, Byleth's gaze turned back to the orange girl as the latter looked at her expectantly.

"I do not understand. I think it is normal."

If Leonie had been perplexed at Byleth's previous behavior, she was now getting slightly annoyed, if her new frown was of any indication.

"What do you mean, 'you do not understand'? This man is a living legend!"

Now, it was Byleth's turn to frown ever so slightly, as the teen evaluated Leonie's words. Often in the past, strangers would tell her how great her father was, and how she was privileged to have him to train her. However, as much as she had been told about how much Jeralt was, in their own words, a 'badass' or an 'exceptional warrior', to her he was merely her father.

Besides, for as much as she could tell from observing children of her age, they seemed to think the same way. Be their parent be an excellent butcher, smith, or librarian, they would think of their parentage's skills as the norm since they had shared their lives with these people.

It just so happened that her own father was of a seemingly renowned and respected profession.

Before the orange teen could get more agitated, however, the two girls' attention was attracted back to the tavern, from which some adults were beginning to exit, presumably to go back home. Some of them were singing, others were still carrying a jug of beer, and others could barely stand without the help of another. Byleth's group happened to belong especially to the second and third categories.

Most noticeably, though, was the muscular and bearded brown haired man who was walking towards the pair, not without some stumbling. Upon seeing this, Byleth's expression perked up a little while Leonie went very excitable all of a sudden as she ran over to the man.

"Mister Jeralt! I'm so glad you came! How was your night?" The young woman asked with a great deal of enthusiasm before the older mercenary laughed a bit and placed a heavy hand on her shoulder. It was apparent to Byleth that her father had gotten himself drunk hard again.

"Excellent, Leonie…" His gaze then went over Byleth and he gave out a wide smile as he went to wrap his only child in a suffocating embrace. "Oh, and how did yours go, you two? Didn't think you would get together by your own acc- Oh, sorry…"

He let go of his daughter as the latter gasped twice for air, having just now realized just how strong his grip still was for her. Byleth, afterwards, sighed in annoyance. Normally, her father would behave in a more reserved manner around her, just like she preferred. Drunk, however, he could act way more… well, drunk.

"I- I was just trying to chat with her a bit, mister." Her expression then became slightly somber as she timidly put her hands behind her back. "Now that your mission is over, though, will you have to go?"

Even in his current intoxicated state, Jeralt could discern the disappointment and worry on the young Leonie's face while she lifted a pair of suppliant orange eyes at him. He then looked to the side and proceeded to grin before kneeling down so their faces could get on the same level.

"Officially speaking, our mission isn't over before we've told the Count about it… and besides, there may be a need for a bit of reconnaissance, just to make sure every poacher is dead, am I right kid?" He looked over to his daughter with a wide smile on his face and winked at her. As usual, her response was to stare blankly at him, albeit with a barely perceptible shrug which seemed to be enough for him to understand her.

"While my men go out and look this out, why don't you come train with us two, girl? By the time we're gone, I'll have made of you the deadliest teenager of the entire region…" He then looked to Byleth. "Except for her, of course…"

After Leonie's excited agreement, the younger mercenary couldn't help but narrow her eyes in annoyance. Jeralt was normally collected and only performed well-thought actions. Place him anywhere near a drink, however, and he began to spout out promises like this. At least, he was wise enough to forbid the carriage of alcohol in the group.

He then proceeded to walk off to the hotel of the town, where he could get a good semi-night of sleep, and Leonie then puffed out her chest proudly. She looked over at Byleth and grinned.

"Heh! You'll both see! One day, I'll make him proud! I'm sure I'll even surpass you someday!"

At this statement, the young mercenary found a bit of an issue. Even if Leonie trained hard for as much as she wanted, it was hardly believable that she would surpass someone who had been a seasoned warrior as soon as she knew how to talk. Where she went and fought, the people called her the 'Ashen Dragon', and for a good reason.

Still, getting in such a petty argument was not something that interested the blue-haired girl. Instead, she merely nodded and got up.

"If you believe so. Now excuse me, I will go to bed as well. Have a good night, Leonie." Then, with a polite bow, she walked off to the same direction that her father had went to.

Leonie, for her part, could feel her heart beating harder and harder. She was going to be trained by one of the best mercenaries in all of Foddlan! Now she would maybe be able to become one herself, and she would then be able to help people in need, just like Jeralt and his troops had done, or maybe she could join the Leicester military or the Knights of Seiros…

No, screw this. Being a mercenary, free as the wind, was way better.

* * *

**Thanks to **LostCipher999 **Nfor proof-reading the first two chapters of this story!**

**N****otes:**

**So, the prollogues. I'm going to clarify a few things that I feel need to be said.**

**In this story, the first BOTW game only will be taken into account, so whatever happens in BOTW 2 wil not be considered canon here (as if I have any right to talk about canonicity, but hey...).**

**For the sake of having Link and Byleth be actual characters with personalities, I have decided that I would write them as how I felt when playing as them, so Link is basically experiencing Post-Game boredom at the moment.**

**I have decided to make so that Leonie and Byleth meet each other in their teens, when Jeralt was hired by Count Gloucester, because I thought that it would make sense, as well as making their one-sided rivalry have some background.**

**I intend to add a chapter every time I finish another, or every month.**

**Got any more question, critic, or other commentary? Don't hesitate to review, because I am relatively inexperienced in writing and I want as much feedback and constructive criticism as possible!**


	2. Ch 2 - A chance meeting

Foddlan year: 1180

Great Tree Moon

It was not exactly what one would call a common occurrence for Link to stumble onto a populated area. Even rarer did the Hylian actually decide to spend some time in one should he find it by accident, these days at least. Today, however, his mood just so happened to be favorable to the idea of social interaction.

When he approached the first visible buildings of the village, the dashing blonde took a short break and tossed his little travel bag to the side as he caught the sight of a small sign near the entrance. The Hylian's eyes narrowed as he focused his attention on the inscriptions which were painted on the thing. Despite having spent a few months honing his Foddlanese skills, he still needed to take his time to read properly, although speaking it had become easy.

After a few seconds, he sighed in relief as he could finally decipher the cryptic message on the sign. It consisted of a singular word: 'Remire'. Either this was a word of which he had yet to learn the definition, or this was actually the name of the town.

Before entering, he took some time to check out his clothing. It was rather dirtied up, not speaking of the multiple stitches that would need to be made in the future to render these clothes presentable. Fortunately, Link had already cleaned himself up a day or two ago, and as such he would only need to change what he was wearing.

For this end, he reached to his waist, where his trusted Sheika Plate was always attached, before he proceeded to turn its power on – for the first time in a few weeks – and began to tap on its screen through the different menus. In an instant, his entire body shined with a bright blue color. Once it died out, it was hard to recognize him as the same wilderness-wandering lunatic that he had been for a long time by now, for he had taken back his good old and blue Champion tunic. Although it had not been damaged by the years, it did feel a lot less comfy than it used to since his final and sudden growth burst back in Hyrule. Still, it was not nearly tight enough to become uncomfortable or something of the sort. Not every suit of his could claim the same.

After this quick wardrobe change, Link noticed that a few curious people in the village were now staring in his general direction, with some of them looking quite shocked. At this moment, the Hylian remembered that he should reserve this kind of 'Sheika magic' demonstration to moments where he wasn't in plain view of common folk.

Still, he made his way into the town with a slow and relaxed pace. He took the opportunity that his walk gave to observe his surroundings a little and to evaluate the small village he had just entered. By current day Hyrule's standards, it would have truly been an impressive city – but really, over there around fifty souls would be considered impressive – with numerous residences and even a few shops visible further down the street. As for the inhabitants, they seemed for the most part to be what Foddlan qualified as the 'commonfolk'.

Speaking of the folk, though, the blonde Hylian could not help but notice the numerous glares he would receive from them, varying from mere curiosity to open hostility, with a small group of men near the local tavern having even gathered together to seemingly keep an eye on him. While he was not really in the mood for a sudden brawl, he did admit to himself that he would find it somewhat entertaining if they were to go through with attacking him.

This attitude of the people of Foddlan is something that Link had dealt with before, among the Zoras, for example. Furthermore, he had also realized that the people of Foddlan were treating like this anyone that they considered an 'outsider'. Be it those native from Brigid and Dagda from the West, Duscur and Sreng from the North or Almyra from the East, none of them were spared from the bad eye they got over here.

As for Link? Well, let's just say that his unusual style of clothing and his pointy ears normally gave away his non-Foddlan origins. It did not affect him that much, though, since for most of his time he would be wandering around in the wilds, minding his own business unless he happened to find a populated area, just like Remire.

As he was ruminating these thoughts, Link finally arrived at the marketplace, a location which was generally free from the pointless political or social drama that he had been able to distinguish on this continent. The fact that a good portion of the merchants were outsiders probably helped with that. Thus, as usual, he looked around in order to find something worthwhile to buy. Most of the time, it would be a few arrows, or a new kind of weapon he had not seen before.

While he found nothing of the sort, however, Link managed to find the local blacksmith's shop. As he had worn out a lot of his weapons' durability – because of course he did – he decided that a good fix wouldn't do wrong for once, instead of replacing every single one he broke.

The place was as dark as you would expect a blacksmith's to be. When he arrived, the Hylian was greeted by a rather round, middle-aged woman who proceeded to call out to the smith himself. The latter sported a completely bald head which, coupled with his wrinkles, showed just how old – or worn out – he was. Despite his lack of hair, he did have an impressive beard or a mixture of ginger and silver flowing through. He was actually far skinnier than the Hylian would have expected, but while his arms were not particularly muscled, even compared to Link's slender physique, they were so hard that they seemed as if they were sculpted out of granite. This must have been natural for someone of his career, Link thought.

The woman then asked for him to hand over a few ores of various material to repair the bows, swords, lances and axes he had brought. Feigning to search for them in his bag, Link actually materialized them out of his Plate before handing them to the presumed couple. The woman then invited Link to some sort of waiting room as her husband did his magic. Devoid of any other form of distraction for the rest of the afternoon, Link obliged and sat down on an old wooden chair in an otherwise empty room. The latter was only surrounded by three walls, with the fourth side offering a nice view of the main road.

Just as the wanderer Hylian made himself comfortable, his temporary host went at a few feet in front of him, smiling gently. He offered a slight smile in return along with a greeting nod, which she seemed to interpret as an invitation to begin talking.

"So, mister, do excuse me if I'm mistaken, but are you the professor who was to come today?"

Caught off-guard by the question, Link focused his attention on the lady while giving her a confused look, prompting her to elaborate.

"Oh, so you are not, then… It is because there were a few members of Garreg Mach who were supposed to come by shortly. With your clothes and your weapons, I thought that you would be part of them."

Satisfied by the explication, the Hylian nodded weakly before redirecting his gaze to the road in plain view. Then, he was once again dragged out of his reverie when she decided to re-engage the one-sided discussion.

"If you're not a combat teacher, then what are you? There aren't a lot of strangers who just come by without warning…"

"I'm a traveler." Came Link's quick response.

"An outsider, I presume. I've never seen someone like you before…" Contrary to a lot of her peers, the woman seemed to not be bothered at all by Link's non-native origin, which was rather convenient for the Hylian. After all, a normal discussion was far better than a shouting match, or an unwanted brawl.

"Yep. Foddlan isn't the first land I've come across so far."

"And how do you find it here, so far?" At this, Link shrugged his shoulders as he continued to observe the people come and go on the street.

"Compared to my homeland, or the lands around it, it's rather tame, if I'm being honest…" At this, the lady raised an eyebrow in incredulity. After all, Foddlan had a political and societal history that was rather unique to it, even without talking about the Hero's Relics or the Crests… "But there are some fun monsters to hunt. And the drama all around is… entertaining."

"It certainly would be, for an outsider, I suppose…"

As the conversation died down, Link let out a pretty loud sigh as he stretched a bit. Then, as the waiting was beginning to bore him, he turned around to the woman.

"Excuse me, I'll go on my way now. Can I come back later for my stuff?"

After a surprised nod from her, Link stood up slowly before taking in a deep, solemn breath. Promising to come back by the next day, he then went in search for a suitable place to sleep at for the night. He could simply camp outside, of course, but he figured that a regular bed would be a nice change for once.

As he was going to ask a few bystanders for the location of some hotel, or whatever equivalent could there be in this relatively remote city, however, Link's usually dulled attention was attracted by some odd movement back on the marketplace. A group of bizarrely dressed people had apparently entered the place while he had been on his trip at the blacksmith. Intrigued, Link decided to approach them in order to observe them reliably.

Most of them seemed to be quite young, or at least not above their mid-twenties, if Link had to guess. They were wearing some sort of dark outfit with somber yellow outlines, which was likely some sort of uniform. None of the young members of the group really stood out from each other, except for the three that were in the front, who were accompanying the leader and who had a cape on top of their companions' shared clothing…

The first one was a blonde boy. In fact, he looked quite a fair bit like Link himself in his earlier days, albeit with much sharper facial features. His tall stature and straight posture gave him the air of a by-the-book soldier, only further emphasized by his blue cape. Out of the three outstanding youths, he had placed himself the furthest forward and led the rest into the road.

The second one, a girl, had a red cape as an accessory. She had a quite beautiful mane of white hair which, coupled with her pale mauve eyes, gave her an almost mystical look. While not nearly as tall as either of her fellows, she sported an air of both grace and rigidity which compensated well enough for her literal shortcoming. Contrary to the blonde, who was busy discussing with the group's leader, she was constantly turning her head around, observing her surroundings with a seemingly uninterested expression, the exact same as Link himself used when exploring a new area.

The third one was a bit more interesting to Link, however. His brown flocks of hair flowed in the slight wind of the evening as the yellow caped boy contented himself with following his two companions in a nonchalant fashion. He also gave a few amused glances around the town while the group marched further towards Link's position.

The leader itself was quite bland to the eye, to be completely honest. He seemed quite nervous and looked to be led by the young blue-caped blonde rather than the other way around. Link guessed that he was the famous teacher that the woman had previously told him about, and that the group following him must then be some kind of class.

As the numerous students went down the road, the Hylian took a few steps aside in order to let the rather large group pass. He observed the teenagers with amusement as he noticed various expressions on their faces, such as worry, excitement or, in some cases, bland seriousness, just like their soldier-like blonde fellow.

When they reached the marketplace, they all stopped in their tracks and went to the various weapons and other valuable resources which were on display and Link subsequently lost all interest in watching their whereabouts for any more time. After asking to a passerby for the motel, he slowly walked up to the place.

The building itself hadn't many interesting features to talk about, except maybe for the fact that it was gifted with a second floor, unlike most houses around here. The wooden stairs leading to the entrance door creaked under Link's weight before he could finally try to reserve a room. Once inside, he needed a few seconds for his eyes to accommodate to the sudden darkness that he was in. Even at the blacksmith's, there was at least some natural light coming inside…

The blonde Hylian ended up paying what most others would consider an egregiously high price for what was just a room with a few commodities for one night. However, being neither short of money from selling the stuff he would find everywhere in the wild nor aware of the actual value of Foddlan's currency, he didn't exactly care and simply climbed to the second floor and let out a long sigh of relief.

He then looked around the little room to evaluate the comfort that he had bought himself. There was a small bed, which had a blanket but did not seem particularly aggregable to lean on, a small desk with a single drawer, which wouldn't really be of much use for him anyways, a bucket in the corner that patiently awaited to fulfill its function along with being fulfilled itself – good Lord… – and, finally, a mirror placed on the wall with another bucket full of water near it. There was also a small window which gave a view on the main street, on which the youngsters were still busy shopping.

Once his examination was complete, the Hylian decided to drop his old travelling bag on the bed as he sat on its edge before rummaging through it. He had put in there some things that he didn't feel like storing away in his Sheika Plate, on the chance that he would need it quickly, such as a dagger, a boomerang, and a toothbrush.

After he was done with his lightweight pack, he stood up and made his way to the window, before he supported himself with a hand on the wall and let go of some of his tension along with another hearty sigh. He then observed the road down below and felt… and felt…

Nothing.

No joy, no real relief. Just emptiness.

After being stuck in a passive trance for a minute or two, Link finally made some semblance of movement toward his bed, before detaching his most prized possession from his belt.

The Sheika Plate.

Link had told himself that he should get rid of that thing before going on a journey. After all, it offered a temptation to instantly return home and it made his daily life way too easy. However, he had kept it for two main reasons.

Firstly, it offered some comfort for him to know that so many – if painfully bittersweet – memories were just at hand if he needed them.

Secondly, he was out of teleportation range as soon as he stepped out of Hyrule anyways.

He turned the device on, and blue light immediately radiated from the screen, overflowing him with nostalgia. When the menu popped up, his first instinct was to rummage through the various photographs he had taken with it.

There was a bit of everything, from beautiful scenery to friends, to the various creatures inhabiting his homeland. There was even one with him posing in front of a recently defeated Lynel, and not any one either. It was a Golden one!

The Hyrulian Hero continued to stare blankly at this device as he revaluated his choices for yet another time before calmly leaning back on the uncomfortable mattress and waiting for the night to come by. He was, however, not actually tired at the moment, and he ended up staring pathetically at the peeling paint on the wall next to him for a few hours before he could close his eyes for certain.

* * *

It was barely half an hour after sunset that Link had quitted his crappy room at the motel, though not necessarily for long.

After a time sleeping, he had been woken up by his body's natural urge to let go of its waste, and it was out of the question to execute the required task in the given bucket in his room. As a result, he had taken his material – as if he was going to let the chance to anyone to steal it, yeah right – and went deep into the woods, where he could do the deed without interruption nor observers.

After he was done with his task, Link made his way back to the village with a much more content demeanor than he had when he departed from it earlier. However, when he was just outside the entrance, something odd happened.

A duo of cavaliers, a bulky brunette man and a slender and oddly clothed blue-haired woman, almost ran into him by accident, with the guy reaching what Link assumed to be his weapon when he took notice of the Hylian's presence. However, he must have changed his mind quickly, as he calmed down and gestured to his companion to follow him, saying something along the lines of "No, he's not one of them."

After the two went on their way, Link was now intrigued and decided to sacrifice another few minutes of sleep for an entertaining event.

However, his amusement found itself very short-lived as he was met with the sight of a few people running out of the dark forest, with some seemingly having a limp and needing their comrades' support. Upon closer inspection, Link concluded that those were the very same teenagers that he had seen this afternoon at Remire. Tension and adrenaline making a long-awaited comeback into his person, the Hylian Hero began to sprint in the direction that the two cavaliers had taken.

When he finally caught up with them, passing by a few other injured youngsters in the process, he saw the duo fighting off a few bandits, forming a defensive line between the rogues and the three peculiar students he had noticed earlier. The yellow-caped one seemed in a better shape than his two fellows and assisted the duo with his bow.

At this sight, Link immediately went to his Sheika Plate and withdrew his trusty Master Sword. Its glow was faint, announcing a near shutdown, but a few bandits would certainly not be too much for it to handle.

Now, normally the prospect of a battle would have excited Link. After all, the last few weeks had been rather bland, with only a few birds that had been able to somewhat cause him trouble. In these times, he would drag out the fight as long as possible and try out ludicrous methods of killing, such as a time stop-powered tree toward a beast.

With other people's lives at stake like right now, though? He could not tolerate it. In these times, if you believed in some sort of entity, then you would better start praying to it for mercy, because this goofball of a Hylian certainly won't give you any.

Thus, as the two mercenaries known as the Blade Breaker and the Ashen Demon were dismantling the thugs that had been threatening the lives of Edelgard, Didmitri and Claude, they saw a blue blur pass right between them and slash open the guts of an incoming brawler. Turning around briefly, Jeralt recognized the odd man he and Byleth had just passed by. At first, he had thought that the attack had been a Wind-type spell, but he narrowed his eyes in confusion as the blonde wielded his glowing blue sword and approached them.

Because of the numerous bandits, however, the time was not for small talk, and the blue-clothed guy had already seemingly proved his position in the situation for the moment, thus Jeralt resumed fighting after giving an approving nod to the newcomer.

Then, after his daughter had taken care of the last few members of the current bandit vague, she and the blonde ran forward to directly confront the next dozens of them. The three students who had stayed behind went right after them, seemingly willing to assist in battle despite their own injuries.

With this sight of four young warriors uniting forces with an unexpected ally, the Blade Breaker decided to stay behind for some time in order to give them their chance to shine.

Now, Byleth had formed a front line with Dimitri and Edelgard, with her at the middle. They disposed of the thugs who were unfortunate – or foolish – enough to come in the range of their respective weapons. Claude, during this time, occupied a much safer spot behind his temporary brother and sisters-in-arms, but not any less vital, dispatching as many upcoming enemies at a safe distance as he could.

During this time, Link had rushed on another side of their foes' offensive. His opponents barely had the time to blink before the Master Sword had slain them, and the Hylian wielding it certainly showed no sign of slowing down. He was moving with a vivacity that he hadn't experienced since a few months, and it certainly did not displease him.

With the combined might at play, the band of thugs had been dealt with quite a bit of ease, with only their leader, Kostas, remaining with a few of his best troops. The guy was clearly more muscular than his many men, and his thick brown beard gave him a way more intimidating appearing than what he actually deserved it to be.

Currently in a blade lock with Byleth, he could only cringe and glance aside to see his allies being executed one by one by either the trio of students of the madman who had just joined them and turned the battle around. With a slight grin, the mercenary then used a bit more of her strength to push him back a few feet, forcing his steel axe out of his hand. This caused the bandit leader, in a fit of desperation, to gather the short axe attached to his belt and began yelling.

"YOU'LL DIE!"

At these words, he proceeded to rush directly toward the young red clothed Edelguard, who was mortified to say the least.

Link, however, wasn't having any of this. Thus, he raised his Master Sword, ready to throw a finishing blade beam… only for nothing to come out of it. As he quickly looked at his blade, the Hylian realized with horror that he had actually worn out his weapon, and thus could not rely on it. He could only watch as he was going to witness the young woman getting her skull split in two…

Fortunately, the blue-haired mercenary had stepped up just in time, pushing Edelgard aside and then slashing the brigand bad enough to make him squirt over.

"Urgh… DAMMIT!"

As the defeated thug continued to yelling profanities in the early nights, galloping noises could be heard approaching and, while the combined group of mercenaries, students and wanderer turned their head to see what was causing it, the remaining bandits took the opportunity to run away as fast as they could – a wise choice, truly.

With the adrenaline of the battle lowering quickly, Link let out a satisfied laughter while he stored his sword away and went to check on his new acquaintances.

The first he went to, the red-caped woman, was sitting with her back on the nearest tree, panting heavily. The poor girl had sustained a lot of injuries during the fight, mainly in her abdomen. Link had noticed that she lacked a lot of technique in her fighting style, and her axe swings ended up missing their target more times than not. However, it was not fear that transpired the most out of her sweating visage.

No, it was rage.

Pure, overflowing, face reddening rage. The girl was frowning intensely. That was until Link came into her field of vision, however, at which point she made the effort to calm down and nodded respectfully at him as he approached.

"Sir, thank you for your intervention… Are the others alright?"

Her question actually surprised Link a little, given the state she was in. It meant something good about her person, he guessed. He took the time to look around and, seeing the yellow and blue clothed young men shaking hands, he figured they were relatively fine.

"They'll be alright. Do you need medicine?"

After an affirmative nod from her, Link smiled and raised a finger to tell her to wait a little. He then kneeled down to her side and booted on his Plate, navigating through the menu until he found the right items he needed: an anti-infection lotion and a pain-negating one, prepared from medicinal plants from all the way to Hyrule. They had been stored in there for a long time since Link didn't really need them for most of the time.

As he made the two items materialize into his hands, the girl stared with stupefaction at his device, puzzlement completely replacing her anger from earlier.

"Now, I'll make your pain more tolerable, and then I'll prevent it from infecting. However, it'll still hurt a bit when I apply the second lotion, is it alright?"

The young woman nodded slowly and, surely enough, she didn't move an inch when Link put on his medicine. He was actually impressed by her pain resistance.

"This thing, sir… what is it?"

Link looked over at his Plate with a slight disinterest. He didn't really like when he had to show people that he had such an amazing piece of technology on him, but he did not regret using it when there was a sufficient need, like right now. As such, he didn't see a problem with obliging to her questions.

"It's some sort of magic plate from my homeland."

"Really? I've never seen such a thing before… where is your homeland, if you may?"

Link looked up to the girl, intrigued by her curiosity, and he was met with a look that transpired of doubts.

"It's called Hyrule. You know how there are Islands at the west of Foddlan, called Brigid? Well, there's a bigger land further west called Dagda, and if you sail a week, once again at west, you get to it. I doubt you've heard of it."

After a dismissive 'hmph' from the white-haired girl, Link finished attending to her wounds before rejoining the four others. At the same time, the unknown cavaliers had finally arrived, with their leader announcing his presence quite effectively.

"Oh, no! The bandits have escaped! Men, go after them!" His subordinates then demounted and rushed towards the direction that Kostas had taken to escape before the leader came to meet the fighters who had been there for quite some time now.

The guy seemed, to Link's not-so-expert eye, to be quite a joyous man. He had a pleasant smile plastered on his face as he advanced toward the older, bearded mercenary. He had finely combed dark brown hair and a finely trimmed mustache. He also wore a quite large silver armor, betraying quite a large gut, but just by seeing him, Link knew that it was likely more an announcement of stout strength than of being out of shape.

"Oh, no… not him…"

The Blade Breaker, however, did not seem to be in a great mood. It was weird for Link, since the guy hadn't had any wound for the entirety of the fight and every student was alive – at least, as far as Link knew. The silver knight, though, looked as if he had just seen a ghost, right before the widest smile Link had ever seen plastered itself on the man's face as his eyes widened.

"Captain… Captain Jeralt? Is that you?"

The mercenary, for his part, wasn't provided the time to respond before he was pulled in an embrace by the knight. From where he stood, Link only had a good view of Jeralt's face, but from the other man's bombastic laughter, it was obvious that at least _he_ enjoyed this reunion. The mercenary, however, looked less than amused, with a cringe forming on his face as the knight tapped him a few times on the back as a part of this very masculine hug.

As the larger man finally let go of Jeralt, Link glanced in the blue-haired woman's direction and noticed that she seemed way more confused than himself was. The two older men then engaged in conversation, mostly by the knight's initiative.

"Ah, it's so good to see you again. How are you alive?"

"It's… it's a long story, really. Good to see you too, Alois."

"Oh, we'll have time to… hey, is that your kid?"

At this, the larger knight designated Jeralt's female companion with a movement of his chin, who was now sheathing her sword back after having cleaned it.

"Oh, yes, this is Byleth, my daughter. She was born after… you know."

Darn, Link thought. _He_ would have liked to know as well. It seemed to be common for people to just not mention interesting details in his presence. Byleth, for her part, bowed respectfully to Alois after her father had introduced her. The two older men then resumed their conversation as Link and Byleth went to see the other two injured students who had fought at their side.

The blonde and the brunette were in a much better condition than their female comrade, for various reasons. The blue-caped youngster had a much better handling of his spear than she had with her axe, and as such he had not missed any of his own attacks. Besides, for what little time Link could see him fight, he was no slouch in the strength department, further facilitating things for him. As for the tanned boy, he had positioned himself safely behind Byleth and the other two students, with obvious results regarding his health.

"No, look, Dimitri, you don't get it. I was not fleeing, I was merely trusting you and Edelgard's abilities, so I decided to give you the spotlight, for once." The yellow-caped archer was currently jokingly explaining to his friend his 'tactics' for the fight.

"Oh, me who thought that you were attracting the bandits to you to get them off of us, you disappoint me, Claude…" The young blonde, with no shortage of snark, responded to the other boy's blabber.

The two stopped their arguing, however, when they noticed Link's presence. The tanned one then marched towards the blonde Hylian with his hand extended, nodding his head appreciatively while examining the wanderer. In return, the Hero of Hyrule shook hands with him with a relaxed expression.

"Hey, thanks for the support, by the way. I think we had it in the bag back there, but you certainly made things easier for us."

"If I may, Claude…" Said the blue-caped boy, glancing expectantly at his friend before slightly bowing to Link. "Your skills have been of a great help. Could you tell us your name?"

Just before he could answer the question, Link noticed that the white-haired girl had gotten up and followed him to the side of the other two teens, and she was now looking at him, expecting to learn this particular information herself.

"The name's Link. Glad to meet you."

After this unceremonious introduction, the Hylian was met with varied looks from the three youngsters, from intrigued in Claude's case to confused for the Dimitri's, to downright suspicious for the girl's.

"'Link'? What kind of name is this? Is it from Sreng?" Asked the blue caped boy.

"He said he's from somewhere called 'Hyrule', apparently." Answered the young woman, who despite her remarkable pain resilience, still kind of stumbled around due to her injuries.

"Huh. Would explain the pointy ears, I guess. In any case, the name's Claude, from the Leicester Alliance. The two royalties over there are Dimitri and Edelgard."

At this, the aforementioned Dimitri let out a weak sigh after hearing the half-assed introduction that his fellow had just done and he then proceeded to walk forward and place his hand on his chest in order to designate himself.

"Excuse me, but I do not think that my companion has presented us properly. My name is Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, heir of the throne of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus."

As a response, Link could only offer a nod to confirm that he had in fact listened, and then he turned to the girl, the latter which took a dignified stance despite her deplorable state.

"And I am Edelgard von Hresvelg, future Empress of the Adestrian Empire."

'_So much for me having a weird name. How do you even spell theirs?'_ Thought the Hylian before reflecting on their affirmations. He had learned, in fact, that the Kingdom was currently without an actual king and that the Emperor was losing his health by the second. Thus, it meant that he was in the presence of two heirs of the most powerful political entities of Foddlan. This would have been a big deal for most people, but for Link, it was far less of an unique situation.

It also meant that both of them could very well have been killed this very instant. That possibility would have brought absolute chaos on the land. As interesting as the results could have been, Link wasn't the type to revel in such things.

As he was thinking, he waved goodbye to the three teenagers, who went to meet the blue-haired woman who had aided them as well and Link himself was approached by the Knight known as Alois.

"So, time for us to properly introduce ourselves, then!" Exclaimed the large middle-aged man, announcing his presence with an unexpected and powerful pat to the back, which surprisingly made the Hero flinch forward. "The Captain said that you weren't part of his group, so will you tell me your name, my good sir?"

After going through the same process once again, the knight's eyebrows lifted a bit when learning of Link's origins. However, he didn't seem to dislike it. He then introduced himself as Alois of the Knights of Seiros.

"Hey, I have to ask you, do you have a destination in mind, at the moment?"

"Not really, I just go wherever is in the direction I take. Why?"

"Then, why don't you come to the Monastery of Garreg Mach as thanks for your help tonight? Even if you don't stay long, we can offer you food and shelter for some time. What do you say?"

"If the rooms there are better than Remire's, then it's a deal."

After answering, Link glanced in the direction of the knight, whose eyes seemed to have widened significantly for some reason. He then looked to Link in return and cleared his throat.

"Of course, since you are a stranger and all that, you'll have to be monitored a little… I'll keep an _eye_ on you, boy…"

He then proceeded to shut his left eye off while he stared at the Hylian with the other. The blonde couldn't do anything except for standing still, cringing awkwardly. Alois then seemingly reached an epiphany of some sort and returned to a more natural stance.

"Sorry, even for my standards, that was bad. Guess I'll have to _check out_ for the next times, heh?... Alright."

Now, in the face of such overwhelming evidence, Link understood the feelings of Jeralt when the knight arrived. It promised to be a quite long journey.

"Let's rejoin the others and assemble the other students. We have a long march ahead of us if we want to arrive on time for the beginning of the school year!"

At this, the Knight of Seiros and the Hero of Hyrule walked together towards the three students and the young woman named Byleth, which was in the middle of being bargained with to rejoin the three youngsters' respective factions.

* * *

The next day, after reuniting the panicked students and trying in vain to search for their professor, the group had begun its journey back to the Monastery of Garreg Mach. Alois and Jeralt were at the front, accompanied by their respective men and discussing about their many adventures in the last years or Hylia knows what, while Byleth, Claude, Edelgard and Dimitri were keeping pace at a fair distance behind, with Link just in front of them. Sometimes, one of the two young men would accelerate a little to talk a bit with him. As for the girl, either the lotion had been particularly effective for her, or she didn't let her pain show, but either way she didn't bother to try and strike a conversation with him.

Apparently, the Monastery was not only the center of the Church of these lands and the home of the Archbishop, but it also served as an academy for the elite of the three political factions of Foddlan. The three teens who had stayed to fight the bandits were the designated House Leaders, which meant that they were more or less the unofficial… well, leaders, of their class. Each House had eight students that were decided to follow an extensive program which included missions on the field as a form of internship, which Link definitively thought of as an interesting concept. The thought of the youth of the different races of his homeland studying together in a classroom was certainly most entertaining.

Since the day before, Link had noticed that Edelgard's interest in him had extended to Byleth as well, for some reason. Maybe her saving the white-haired heir from a literally head-splitting headache had something to do with it. Meanwhile, the looks she gave to Link were of a mix of uneasiness and… what seemed like very heavy suspicion. The Hylian didn't really understand why she seemed so uncomfortable with him, but at the same time, folks from Foddlan seemed pretty xenophobic in general, and maybe his Plate had scared her a bit. These were just suppositions, though.

After a few hours of walking in silence, the young Claude rejoined Link's position in the line and cleared his throat before engaging conversation.

"So, you said that you were from a place called Hyrule, right?"

"Yep." Came Link's short response, prompting the tanned boy to keep on his questions.

"Mind talking a bit about it?"

"Why do you want to know about it?" Link's tone was genuinely curious, although his words could have been seen as rude by some.

"Oh, nothing in particular, I was just intrigued by it. I like learning more from outsiders."

"I see. All you need to know is that it's been destroyed and is getting better."

While this answer brought much fuel to the boy's curiousness, his subsequent attempts at getting more information about his homeland were ineffective on Link. After a few failed attempts, he returned to his other companions.

Then, as the group began to walk out of the forest they were in, the leaves cleared out and let a few sun rays hit the travelers' face. After their eyes got accustomed to the strong sunlight, it came into view.

Garreg Mach.

Built on a nearby mountain, the monastery dominated its surroundings by its sheer massiveness, which was only enhanced by the multiple protective walls which had been erected around it. Its main buildings looked to be pretty high from Link's perspective, in fact just as much as the Castle of Hyrule. Or rather, this must be what the Temple of Time and its citadel must have looked like in their prime, he thought.

The Hylian couldn't help himself but to whistle, visibly impressed, while he subconsciously slowed down his pace so he could observe it a bit more thoroughly until the students and Byleth caught up to him.

The group then made their way through one of the villages that had been settled at the feet of the monastery. Link took this opportunity to observe it in detail. Remire was a fine place, but this town clearly benefitted from the sheer flow of activity coming to and going from it, be it merchants, new villagers or the military. His analysis could not really go further, however, since he and his companions were beginning their ascension towards the academy's fortifications. After another quarter of an hour of walk, they finally arrived at the entrance. At this point, the students which had participated to the excursion had largely disbanded, as they likely already knew where to head to. Link, for his part, contented himself with following the trio of Jeralt, Byleth and Alois, who were continuing straight to the biggest building of the place.

Upon further inspection, Link noticed that the young woman's attention had been attracted by something above them, which incited the Hylian to glance upwards as well with an air of semi-interest on his face, then he saw her.

A pretty young-looking woman, but nonetheless radiating an aura of wisdom and divinity, was staring down right at Jeralt and Byleth from a balcony. She had long, pale green hair which contrasted very little with her similarly colored eyes – which, to be fair, seemed to be a contant in this continent for some reason. From the white and refined dress she wore as well as her… crown-looking gold thingy, Link deduced that she must be someone pretty important in this place.

Upon entering the building itself, they immediately found themselves into a massive hall, with long tables place on both the side and the left. From the smell in the place, Link deduced that a kitchen was in operation at some distance, and thus some may come here to eat from times to times. The four of them then continued through the room until they reached a small hallway, in which there were stairs leading to the second floor. As they climbed up, Link continued to observe the architecture of the place, which shared multiple similarities with what he had seen in the Hyrule Castle. However, one big difference he found was that there was a _lot_ of stained glass used as decoration in the windows, while there weren't nearly as much in Hyrule.

When they arrived on the second floor, Jeralt and Byleth continued further into another rather large room, which was closed off immediately after they entered it, while Alois gestured to Link to stop and to wait.

"Just be a bit patient. After the Captain is done, they'll want to talk to you. I'll go make that they know why you're here first, though."

"Yeah, you do that…" The Hylian responded while nodding slowly. "Hey, just before you go, I saw a green-haired woman when coming through here, she seemed high-ranked enough. Who is she?"

"Oh!" The knight's expression lightened a bit at Link's description. "This is Lady Rhea, the Archbishop. She is the one who will talk with you."

'_Well, she certainly is important, after all.'_ Link thought.

"Do you guys really just accept foreigners into your establishment like that?" The blonde Hero apprehended, rubbing his bearded chin for a moment.

"It would not be the first time. I know how Foddlan is, but this place is a bit different. We already have other outsiders in here, there is even one who works as a sniper. Really, you don't have to worry about that…" Said the larger man with a reassuring smile and his hands on his hips. Link simply nodded in acquiesced in response, although he didn't really have a reason to be _worried_ per say. If it didn't work out, he just went back to the wilds with his stuff and… and he just realized that he had forgotten almost all of his Foddlan weaponry back at the blacksmith. Ah well.

After merely a minute, Jeralt went out of the room in a hurried and seemingly annoyed pace, stopping a few meters away from the door to cover is face with his palm, seemingly reflecting on and regretting a few choices. Link knew how this felt.

"So, how did it go?" Asked Alois, apparently oblivious to his old friend's discomfort. The old mercenary's expression changed slightly upon hearing the knight's voice and he adopted a more neutral expression.

"Oh, I've been asked to reintegrate the Knights of Seiros…"

"That's great news! Will you?"

"… It isn't as if I have a choice…"

Link assumed at first that Alois was just a very dense individual by the sound of the conversation alone, but glancing in the larger man's direction, he could distinguish the knight's worry and anguish on his visage. Maybe he _did_ realize that Jeralt would have rather not been involved in that bandit attack after all…

"Anyways…" Continued the orange-clothed man. "Byleth is almost done, you'll be able to introduce our friend after that."

"And what are they possibly talking about?" Inquired Alois.

"They are talking about making her a teacher here, no less… I'll admit that I didn't see it coming either." Indeed, the knight's face was completely dumbstruck by the surprise. Even Link, despite his general indifference, lifted his eyebrows and even engaged in the conversation.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't your daughter a mercenary? Don't mistake me, I know she's skilled, but a _teaching job?_ That doesn't seem to be in her field of expertise."

"Don't worry, kiddo, I don't take offense. Actually, I have the exact same concerns."

Link flinched a little upon being called a 'kiddo' by Jeralt. He wasn't exactly a youngster anymore, and while he certainly did keep an air of youth in his facial features, he was still well into his mid-twenties. Actually, to think of it, it would actually still make him quite young, by most standards.

"Well, I do not know for both of you, but I do trust Lady Rhea's judgement. If she believes that your daughter is fit to teach those kids, then I'm sure that she can as well!" Added the large knight, prompting an irritated grunt from Jeralt, which made Link suspect that the latter may know just a tiny bit more than what he told them.

While the three's banter was dying down, however, the door to Rhea's sort of conference room was opened and Byleth came out rather calmly, unlike her father had done a few minutes earlier. She didn't stop to talk with the three men, but she did nod in their direction to acknowledge their presence.

"Well, looks like it's our turn. We will be seeing each other later, Captain!" Exclaimed Alois, nodding his head in the direction of the entrance of the room. Link acquiesced back and the two men entered.

The sight that the Hylian was welcomed with was quite the spectacle, to be honest. The violet and blue colors of the walls and floor transpired a sense of solemnity into the place, which added to the effect of the beautiful mosaic in the immense window at the back of the place, which seemed to represent some sort of divine entity.

Other than that, there were already two other people inside. The first one, who was apparently Rhea, stood in front of his with a calm, yet intrigued look as she held her hands together on her stomach. The second, unlike the Archbishop, seemed quite agitated. He had hair and eyes of green color as well, but his were noticeably darker than Rhea's. His facial features were sharp and his expression harsh, and he wore a distinguished, blue uniform, indicating a role of importance for him as well. Under their gaze, Alois nervously cleared his throat and began to announce Link properly, while the announced merely stood nonchalantly at his side, observing the room.

"Pardon me for the disturbance, Lady Rhea, but as you know, the group of students sent to Remire has been attacked last night. Fortunately, we could acquire the help of the Captain's group by chance. The young man I have brought here has also given us much needed assistance, and this despite coming across by pure randomness. Since he is without a home, I proposed to him a shelter here, but of course it is for you to decide…"

"Suffice, Alois, you have done well. I will talk with him in private from now on, if you will."

While the knight's speech had been hurried and spoken quite quickly due to his nervousness, Rhea's response had been almost amused, as if she was in a great mood already. It would only make things easier, Link thought.

After Alois had let the room, the Hylian finally stopped looking around with an uninterested look, and instead directed it on the grumpy-looking man on Rhea's side. His stern expression hadn't mellowed down one bit yet, and he seemed to be, unlike her, in a pretty bad mood.

"I will say, young man, I cannot thank you enough for helping to save our children, despite having no stake in it. For this, you have our gratitude." Rhea spoke with a dignified and kind tone which, to be honest, seemed a bit _too_ nice to Link to be completely genuine.

"However, we cannot allow you to stay here at the monastery, unless we can make sure that you are indeed trustworthy." Said the older-looking man. "First of all, we'll make introductions."

"Indeed, it would be most appropriate. As you have probably heard by now, I am Rhea, the Archbishop. He, at my side, is Seteth. He is my most trusted assistant. And who would you be?"

* * *

A mystery.

A complete and utter mystery. That's the only way Seteth could qualify this day.

First, it turns out that a member of the knights believed to be dead comes back after twenty years out of the blue, along with a daughter born after his disappearance. Then, Rhea actually enrolls the daughter, who is merely a mercenary, as a teacher to replace the one who fled during the incident with the bandits. And now, she was willing to host a complete stranger on top of an outsider! While Seteth was what he would refer to as a reformist in the Church of Seiros, nothing indicated that the young man was not a spy or an otherwise malevolent person.

And now, here he was in the library, searching through a record of Brigid's history trying to find some evidence to confirm at least some of his claims.

At least, as it turns out, the lands of Hyrule, which Link claimed were his place of birth, did actually exist. It had kept economic ties with Brigid for a good time, trading unspecified goods for decades. However, at a certain point, the land completely shut down from the rest of the world. According to a few returning merchants, an evil force had attacked the kingdom and destroyed it. Reading about these legends made the green-haired man recall some uneasy memories.

From the dates of the publishing of the book, Seteth concluded that the 'Calamity', as it was called, had happened roughly a century ago. Thus, according to the man, he would be the descendant of survivors of Hyrule's destruction. This part, at least, was true.

But a few things did not exactly add up for him. If Link was truly the son of rebuilding survivors, then why would he qualify himself as 'bored' back home? Why would he abandon everything to put himself into danger for mere excitement? Add to this his rather inexplicable talent with a weapon according to Jeralt and Byleth, and you get quite the confusing puzzle.

According to the testimony of the young Edelgard, he was also equipped with a piece of magic or technology unheard of in Foddlan. For now, all of the evidence pointed towards the young blonde being a well-informed, but ill-intentioned spy.

Seteth let out a heavy sigh as he sat down at one of the tables of the monastery's library and deposited the history records on it. Rhea had promised to find Link a duty which would fit his abilities and quirks. All he had asked for was to 'fight strong enemies' and to be allowed to roam free for a certain time of each week or month. A few red flags had been raised already, but Rhea still seemed to trust this man. As such, all Seteth could do was to have him monitored so he couldn't pull anything.

Fortunately, his skills inspired Rhea to task him with assisting the weapon handling instructor Jeritza, so the two could share the twenty-four students who would have monitory classes with them as well as the other ones who would desire supplementary sessions. Thus, Seteth had already someone to look over the newcomer when he's in the academy's grounds. Since Rhea seemingly accepted to send him on field missions, the bureaucrat decided that he would always be sent with someone competent, be it Alois or another of the elite Knights of Seiros.

For the first time in hours, a slight sensation of relief made its way through Seteth. At least, if Link _was_ malicious, then they wouldn't be completely blindsighted.

* * *

Not far from the monastery of Garrech Mach, another group had just finished getting themselves installed. In an ancient fissure in the ground, known as the Red Canyon, Kostas and his surviving men had settled, waiting for their employer to check in on their failure. The scarred bandit leader looked around him to count the number of those who managed to get out of the last day's mess alive, since the chaos caused by the mercenaries, knights and other interveners had prevented them from executing a proper evacuation. To his exasperation, it was disappointingly low, not more than fifteen units came along.

Sitting near a woodfire, Kostas placed him face into his palm out of exhaustion, while his subordinates were finishing establishing the camp for the night. They had been told to move over here, in this goddess-forsaken fissure, once they were finished with killing the students. They had not succeeded in any way, but the bandits' leader knew that his 'contractor' would be able to retrace them and punish them accordingly. At least, if they showed obedience, they could hope to ask for a compensation of some sort.

The bearded thief's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of his men who were beginning to bicker over their next course of action. Some of them wanted to stay and stick with him, while the rest wished to get away and run, like a few had already done. Kostas understood their worries, and he himself would have gladly ditched the prick who threw him in this situation, had he not witnessed the latter's abilities firsthand. However, he was not going to tolerate talk of rebellion among his troops. Thus, he got up and readied himself to bash some skulls in…

Right before a violet pillar of light crashed right in the middle of the settlement. All those of were present, including Kostas himself, knew exactly who was going to appear in front of them.

The Flame Emperor.

Right before Kostas stood his employer. They wore a fully covering red cape, which failed to show any hint of their actual body shape. They also wore a dark war helmet, which was coupled with a white mask with some red stripes to completely conceal their identity. Counting the tip of the helm, the Flame Emperor stood roughly as tall as Kostas, who was admittedly of fairly average height.

Following the red figure's flamboyant entry were a few moments of silence from the bandits, ranging from stupefied to hostile, before the newcomer turned to face their leader and began to talk.

"**You have failed at your task, thief. What do you have to say?**"

The Emperor's voice was deep, but given the intense echo that their headwear provided, Kostas had previously guessed that their actual vocalizations would be far higher than the demon-like tone they took when addressing him. However, his thoughts weren't currently focused on this particular topic.

"Hey, this isn't what we'd agreed on! You never told us that the Knights of Seiros would be there, or these blasted mercenaries, or even that madman! You told us that there would be no problem!"

"**You underestimated the protection that the students would benefit from, and you have paid the price, although the appearance of the mercenaries and the outsider have proven to be interesting. At least, far more promising than you**"

"And what about our accord? We agreed on a fair trade." The bandit leader was fuming with rage, barely containing himself from jumping at his interlocutor.

"**I have no obligation to honor a failed accord.**"

"Well, how is this going to end, then?"

"**With your death.**"

After these last words, Kostas could barely think straight enough to not succumb to panic, which would have probably resulted in a bloodbath. He had seen what they were capable of, and if they wanted him dead, then nothing could stop them.

"Wha…"

Without warning, however, the Flame Emperor warped away in the same manner as they had arrived. Once the thugs were over their shocked trance, they began to look around and glance at their companions, anxious about their next course of action.

"What… what do we now, boss?" Nervously asked the youngest man of the group, wiping his cold sweat off his forehead.

"…" Kostas, however, could not answer right away. They were already wanted by the Knights of Seiros for attacking their 'children', and this psycho Emperor apparently wasn't going to spare them either.

"We are going to gather supplies. If they all want us dead, then we'll make damn sure that they will regret messing with us. We'll invade the nearby towns and take every weapon we can, then we'll fight them here. We'll see how we can set up a trap for them…" The leader's frown lowered and hardened as he muttered a few last words.

"Damn you!"

* * *

**Notes:**

**I hope you liked Alois' absolutely terrible jokes, I have spent almost 12 seconds thinking on them...**

**In all seriousness, of course Link hasn't been doing nothing at all in the six years since he left Hyrule. He just hasn't met the people with whom it is relevant yet.**

**Just like for the first chapter, if you've gotten any feedback for me, don't hesitate one second! Have a nice day, and special thanks to LostCipher999**** for being my beta reader for both my first chapters!**


	3. Ch 3 - The Academy

Great Tree Moon

Foddlan year 1180

'Getting to know the students'.

That was the instruction that Byleth had received as the new professor of the Officer's Academy. She had to go see the house leaders and meet some other of their classmates before the role of each teacher was decided. Honestly, she had already interacted with them a little before, so she didn't think it to be important.

Apparently, there were only two other main teachers at the school, a Crest specialist named Hanneman and an… 'available' songstress nurse named Manuela. There was originally another, but he fled when those thugs attacked him and the students. Each of them would have to take care of the students of one of three factions of Fodlan. The three classes' names were the Black Eagles, of the Adestrian Empire, the Blue Lions of the Kingdom of Faerghus and, last but not least, the Golden Deers of the Leicester Alliance.

Since the other two professors had been working there for a few years already, they had the priority as for the choice of who they would teach, which left Byleth with the 'leftover' group, in a sense. It didn't matter to her, as she was determined to make the aspiring knights under her tutelage the darn best warriors of the entire continent. She _always_ fulfilled her duty, and this one would not be an exception.

Right now, however, she was waiting for the students to be done getting installed in the monastery proper as well as for her planned meeting with her fellow teachers, reading a book of the rules of the monastery in the meantime. She quickly got bored of it, however, so she closed it in order to reflect on the events that had been happening since the last day…

* * *

…

"Hey, wake up!"

Byleth, as if following the command of the mysterious childish voice, slowly opened her eyelids, although it didn't allow more light to enter her eyes than when they were closed. Sitting up, the young woman gave a few glances at her surroundings. After a few seconds, she finally found an illuminated feature in the weird place she was stuck in: a couple stair carved out of stone, which bathed in an emerald colored light.

Rising her gaze upwards, Byleth perceived some sort of throne at the top, but it wasn't the most interesting detail. Indeed, there was a young girl sitting on it, and she observed the mercenary with utter disdain. She was clothed in some sort of dark blue light robe, with a lot of assorted jewelry. Despite her face transpiring traits of an adult, with her harsh stare, her body didn't look older than twelve years old, with her short stature and lack of… 'female endowments'. Her hair was extremely long and spread behind her head, and it was of a pale green color.

"Hmm… what is even going on…" After this rhetorical question, the little girl let out a lousy yawn before focusing her attention on Byleth once again. "And what are you?"

Now, Byleth had often been asked about her identity in the past – few actually expected a rather pretty woman such as herself to be the fearsome mercenary who was supposed to get rid of a bunch of thiefs – but she had to admit that no one had ever asked her _what_ she was. Honestly, it felt like quite a silly question, and as such the young woman decided to respond in kind.

"… I am a demon."

"Lying will get you nowhere. Answer truthfully." The girl's tone remained calm, but her slight frown indicated that she wasn't particularly amused by her interlocutor's humor. The mercenary, in response, brought up her hand and began to shake her fingers while a slight grin uncontrollably formed on her lips.

"…

…

I am a ghooost…"

Now, if the girl had been unamused before, now she was straight up annoyed. She began tapping her fingers furiously on her throne's handles as Byleth kept up her serious expression before the latter finally submitted and announced while rolling her eyes:

"I am just a poor mortal soul."

"Now, that's better. And what is your name?"

"Byleth."

"Huh… I'll never get used to the sound of human names… Now, let's continue our-"

* * *

"Hey, you alright, kid?"

For the second time this evening, the blue-haired mercenary was woken up by an exterior voice calling out to her. However, this time, she knew who the voice belonged to. The gruffness brought by decades of intense drinking was rather distinctive: Jeralt, her father.

"Yeah, I'm okay…" Came Byleth's tired response. Looking outside, she could see that it was still pretty early in the night. For a second, she wondered why he was waking her up like this all of a sudden.

"Were you still having that weird dream? You seemed pretty agitated."

At this, the young woman took a moment to recall what she was just dreaming about, which turned out to be quite difficult due to her nearly asleep state. However, she was still able to confirm that she had, indeed, been dreaming about that strange girl again.

"I see… you're having it way more often, these days… But that's not why I woke you up. You know Remire, right?"

"Yes, it's not far from here, why?"

"Well, there are a bunch of kids which apparently require protection, and bandit activity has been observed nearby, so we're tasked to assist in the case something goes wrong. Basic escort mission."

Byleth nodded slowly as she was progressively regaining her full cognitive functions. During this process, the weird dream and the girl that inhabited it faded away in her subconscious, yet again.

* * *

As it turned out, the worries of the Knights of Seiros were justified. Indeed, a bandit group had attacked the student body while the Knights had been distracted. There had only been her, her father, and a couple of the students to try and fight back against the thugs.

Surprisingly, though, it was actually going pretty well. Thanks to her tactical genius and raw skills, she had managed to keep the three youngsters behind her relatively safe, and the foes' numbers were diminishing. The fact that a complete stranger had turned up to lend a helping hand had only increased their advantage.

Now, there were only a few of them left, with their leader getting more and more panicked as Byleth continuously countered his attacks and her allies kept on killing off his troops. After one last swipe, he had apparently hit the last straw, and his face had turned completely neurotic as he screamed towards her.

"YOU'LL DIE!"

However, to her horror, he began to rush not at her, but at Edelgard, who was already quite wounded from the battle. Without thinking, Byleth threw herself in the way of his axe, pushing the young heiress out of the way, and she braced herself for the incoming excruciating pain from a weapon piercing her body, and for a fraction of a second, it came. She could feel the blade cut through her skin, before the weight of the weapon fractured her vertebrae and separated her spine in two. Then…

Everything stopped.

Byleth could not move anymore, but she knew that she was still benched over, with an axe in her back. She could feel the intruding object in her flesh and bones, but for some reason it did not hurt anymore.

Was this what it was like to die? Did everyone experience their time stopping like this?

No, it wasn't possible. The wound she had just received was nothing to scoff around, sure. Hell, it would probably cripple her for life, even with Faith users at hand, and she never could fight again, or maybe not even walk at all! However, it could not have killed her on the spot so quickly. She hadn't been harmed yet in the fight, and she had endured pretty serious injuries before without dying instantly.

The very fact that she could think this clearly given the circumstances disturbed her slightly, which was not easy to do. After some time in this state of stasis, however, a very familiar and feminine voice echoed though her mind.

"No, really. Are you serious? You couldn't have done a better job if you had tried to get us killed!"

Ah, great, she was now hallucinating.

When she thought this, however, the words resonated through the dark place she was in in the same that the green-haired girl's did.

"Oh, so you think I'm not real now? How ungrateful for someone who just saved your life!"

Still somewhat suspicious, Byleth made an effort to open her eyes. While she succeeded, she could feel that her actual, physical eyes were still closed. What she had just controlled was like a second state, a body inside of her head.

And now, she found herself in the same weird throne room that she had dreamed of. This time, however, it was not in the nebulous context of a dream. This time, Byleth could feel distinctively the rocky ground under her shoes, as well as a slight breeze of cold hair flowing through the place.

"So, will you say anything, Byleth?"

"I'm… I'm thankful… thanks…" The mercenary responded half-consciously, still observing her surroundings for another time. The girl, to get her attention, snapped her fingers.

"Listen to me when I speak. Somehow, I have stopped time to save us both from death. What do you plan on doing now, tactical genius?"

"Hey, stop trying to boss me around like that! Last time _I _checked, I am the one in control here, alright? What is even your name?" Snapped Byleth, getting tired of the girl's attitude throughout her numerous dreams of her and now, apparently, her dying hallucination.

Or was it?

"… If you truly want to know, then my name is Sothis. Now, hurry up and think of a solution to clean up your mess."

Byleth, now buying more and more into the possibility of being saved, began reflecting on her situation. So, she was dying, and some weird girl in her head had stopped time to give her time to think, right?

"Do you think that you can reverse time as well? I mean, you can already stop it…"

Now, Sothis' eyebrows went up as a surprised expression appeared on her visage. She then let out a sigh of exasperation, as if wondering how she could have not have thought of it herself, then she nodded slowly.

"I can probably do it, yes. However, try not to screw up again. I know that I won't be able to do it twice, for now. Think fast, and don't get me killed. Got it?"

And on these words, the throne room completely disappeared and Byleth found herself back into her actual body, eyes closed and axe in her back. However, as Sothis began to do her magic, her eyes were forcibly opened as they had been before being struck, she was sent backwards and away from Edelgard and the bandit leader, who were also moving in reverse time. After a few more seconds, she found herself standing in front of Kostas, sword in hand, as time began to flow normally once again, and the thief began his tantrum. Then, it hit her.

It wasn't a hallucination.

She wasn't dead.

She really had an imaginary friend who could rewind time somehow, and now she could – and probably should – defeat the thug before it was too late again.

With her mind still being full of unanswered questions, Byleth took a stance and got ready for Kostas' mad run for the kill, and when he did…

Edelgard still got pushed in a similar way as before, but this time there was no one wounded by axe. No, instead, what everyone could hear were the screams of pain of the bandit, who fled shortly after, when Alois and his men came back.

* * *

_Ding_

And now, the new teacher's thoughts were interrupted by the melody of the bells which announced the return to class after lunch. The dining hall she was in began to be emptied of its students, and as such it was time for Byleth to go meet the two other professors of the academy.

All three of them were supposed to go to Seteth's office. It wasn't really hard to find it, as it was fairly close to the room where Byleth had discussed with him and Rhea, but she did feel some sort of disappointment when she found out that the bureaucrat had not arrived yet. Byleth guessed that he had been busy with some paperwork problem or something similar, so she decided that she would look around the place before he arrived.

Seteth's office was situated in a rather narrow corridor which led to many rooms, but only two of them had anybody in them at the moment. In the first one she checked in, Byleth found a comfortable-looking bed, with dark green sheets placed upon it. Resting on the bed was a pale-faced teenager, who had his arm put in a cast, probably as a result of the bandits' attack, Byleth thought.

Not far from the unfortunate youngster, a blonde and well – ahem – 'equipped' woman was standing, currently busy checking through the numerous bottles of medicine present. After a moment, the lady noticed Byleth's presence and smiled softly while abandoning her current task.

As she began to walk sensually towards her, the former mercenary noticed that she was wearing orange lipstick which, by some act of sorcery, she managed to make look quite good. Her green robe presented a decent cleavage as the white robe attached to it flowed behind the woman's back as she moved. She then brought her hand to her chin in a very smooth movement while she started talking.

"My, my. You must be the new professor at the Academy, am I right?"

"Yes. I am Byleth." Responded the new teacher, performing the usual greeting bow.

"So I've heard… I am Manuela Casagranda, but you may know me under my stage name, the 'Divine Songstress'!"

After this introduction came an uncomfortable silence which went on for a few seconds before Byleth cleared her throat.

"No, no I have not. I take it you're a singer, then?"

"I… Yes, I am." Responded Manuela in her bafflement. "I suppose you and your father did not care much for the world of arts. In any case, I also am the nurse of service, as you may have noticed, as well as your new colleague!"

Realizing that she had not checked the sign at the room's doorframe yet, Byleth took a step backwards and read 'Infirmary', which confirmed the much older woman's claims.

"Alright, I still have to look after this boy here, so could you be a darling and tell me when Seteth finally decides to show up?"

Frowning in irritation from the inappropriately affectionate appellation, the former mercenary nodded nonchalantly nonetheless and exited the room before continuing her little tour. Just next to the songstress' infirmary was another office and from its doorframe Byleth could see a rather large bookshelf. This time, she took the time to look at the room's designation, which read 'Department of Crest research'. From what she had been told earlier, this must be the office of the other professor, Hanneman.

Sure enough, when she poked her head through the doorframe, a quite mature man immediately came into her view. His hair was greying from his advanced age, but his well-trimmed mustache and the monocle he wore over his right eye more than made up for it in matters of good looks.

Like his female colleague had done earlier, he eventually realized that someone was observing him and he awkwardly nodded in Byleth's direction before going back to the papers he was working on.

As she was going to explore the floor further, however, she caught sight of Seteth at the infirmary's doorframe, announcing to Manuela that the meeting between the four of them had to begin. As such, in short order, the bureaucrat and the three teachers went straight into the former's office. Seteth sat behind his desk while Manuela took a chair of the room at her leisure. Hanneman, for his part, offered the second one to Byleth while he went to retrieve something to sit on from his own office.

The meeting debuted simply enough, with the green-haired assistant formally introducing the newest addition to the teaching staff to the two others, causing Hanneman to frown slightly when he learned of the younger woman's background. Byleth couldn't exactly blame him, as she did not understand either why she had been asked to replace the former cowardly professor so quickly.

Desperate times called for desperate measures, she guessed.

"Good, now we can get to the actual meaning of this reunion today…" Said Seteth with a deep sigh, as it became clear that he was eager to end the day. "… The choice of the House that you shall be assigned to for the year."

Before continuing, the bureaucrat turned to look at Byleth in the eye.

"Here, at the Officer's Academy, the priority of choice goes according to whoever has had the longest tenure to date. As such, the first to decide shall be Hanneman, followed by Manuela, which means that-"

"That I'll take the leftovers. I knew." Finished the former mercenary, cutting the speech short. Dumbfounded, Seteth cleared his throat and gathered a few sheets of papers which, as Byleth noticed, had lists of names written on them.

"Alright, then… we will be looking through the students who have enrolled this year…"

* * *

In the classroom of the Black Eagles, the ambiance, as it had been since they came in a week ago, was solemn. Edelgard was offering a lecture on dark magic since the decision as to who would actually teach them hadn't yet been made. As such, she was demonstrating the knowledge that she already possessed by performing a basic spell for her classmates to see and try to replicate later. So far, the wounds that she had sustained had healed well enough, thanks in no small parts to Manuela's treatments.

In the desk row just in front of her were seated Ferdinand von Aegir and Dorothea Arnault, who were paying close attention to the lesson. Dorothea, the only commoner of the group, already had a preference for magic, and thus she appreciated Edelgard's efforts to share what she knew. She was observing the symbols forming out of thin air above her leader's hands and removed a few locks of her long brown hair dangling in front of her face while trying to memorize them.

Ferdinand, for his part, had very little experience in anything regarding magical spells, but he listened closely nevertheless, for very different reasons from his desk neighbor.

"Wait, Edelgard, you said that dark magic would be the best option against most opponents, but doesn't Nosferatu allow you to heal yourself, while attacking?"

A shared groan between Dorothea and the Black Eagles' leader could be heard, before the soon-to-be Empress glanced in his direction with visible annoyance and answered his question.

"I have told you all only a few minutes before, Nosferatu takes time to cast and it will make you slower in battle overall. Only use it if you think that you can finish off your opponent in one hit."

"Yes, but what if we use it when defending, we could-"

"Aegir, if you keep interrupting Lady Edelgard in her lesson, then I will have to get you out of this class, _forcefully_, so think wisely before you utter another word."

The rebuttal to the well-trimmed orange-haired noble's argument had not been said by Edelgard, nor had it been by Dorothea. Instead, the one who spoke up against the young man was none other than Hubert von Vestra, who was sitting next to one of the side walls of the class. The tall and skinny dark-haired boy was also known among his classmates under the various aliases of 'Hubie', 'the Creep' and 'Edelgard's pocket dog'. His intense stare, coupled with his sickly pale green irises had a knack for making most people uncomfortable, but Ferdinand was not impressed.

"I am sorry, Hubert, but when I have a relevant question, I believe that I should ask it." Despite his constant opposition to the only current figure of authority – sort of – present in the group, the young man kept a polite and respectful demeanor.

"Well, you will just have to ask our professor, if you want your answer to a question that I've _already answered_." Replied Edelgard, with a no less calm and polite demeanor.

"Very well, I will, but know that I will inform the rest of the group – including you – of the answer I'm given. If I'm wrong, then it would be good for the rest to avoid having doubts…"

"If you are wrong, then no one will be surprised, Ferdie." Now, it had been Dorothea's turn to speak up, now nearly exasperated by Ferdinand's constant interruptions. The young man, for his part, could only look at her with a confused expression, before going back to merely paying attention to his leader's teachings.

Meanwhile, in the back of the class were most of the rest of the students, those who did not bother to pay attention or simply didn't have talent in dark magic. Caspar von Bergliez was one of them, resting his chin on his palm while sighing every couple minute in exasperation. The short blue-haired boy then leaned back in his chair and began to observe the ceiling out of sheer boredom.

"Man… Why can't she just do that at the training grounds? At least, I could build some more muscle while they go on about their stupid magic stuff… Right, Lindhart?" He whispered, turning to his friend.

The friend in question, Linhardt von Hevring, was currently too busy sleeping away the class on his desk to bother listening to Caspar plea for agreement. A quick jab to his ribcage by his small classmate quickly resolved this issue.

"Wha-what?"

"I said that we could do this on the training grounds. Am I right or am I right?"

"I don't know, I just want to sleep…"

And just like that, the dark green-haired young man spontaneously fell asleep once again, much to the frustration of Caspar, who began tapping his fingers on the desk in wait of the end of this class.

Meanwhile, not far from the bored or sleepy men, there was a third student seated at the same desk row, Petra Mcneary. At first, she seemed like a sore thumb out of the group of mostly nobles from the empire. With her tanned skin and violet marks complementing her braided violet hair, she did not pass unremarked among her classmates. Although the lesson didn't bore her nor did she find anyone in particular in the group annoying, but she simply lacked the affinity in magic that would have been required to find this lecture useful.

"Hey, by the way, has someone seen Bernadetta?" Asked Caspar, who was now looking for the missing eighth member of their group, turning his head around in vain.

"Mmhph… I think I saw her under the desks…" Mumbled Lindhart, still half-asleep but still conscious enough to listen and respond to his friend's question.

Seeking to verify the sleeping man's words, the blue-haired boy then bent over to check under the numerous rows that were present in the room. Due to their small number and the size of their classroom, there were a lot of potential places to see through, but eventually, at one of the corners, he finally found the small, frail and mauve-haired girl known as Bernadetta von Varley, quietly sitting under her wooden cover as she was busy reading a book of some sort. Lifting her eyes from her reading material, she quickly looked around and saw Caspar staring right back at her, smiling and waving. The girl's response was to audibly shriek and bringing her open book over her head, as if trying to protect it from attack or something.

Slightly put off by her behavior, the diminutive brawler went back to his initial position, sighing loudly as he realized that Edelgard's lecture was still going on. After a few more minutes of waiting, he decided to imitate his friend Lindhart and take a short nap before their training session. After all, it would be better to be relaxed and alert rather than frustrated from boredom.

It was going to be quite the year, that was sure for him.

* * *

While nearly half of the Black Eagles were struggling against the boredom of a lecture, the atmosphere was way different over at the Blue Lions' group. Instead of the closed space that was their classroom, they had collectively decided to have some physical exercise at the training grounds, so they could vent out the inactivity that they had been mostly forced into since a few days. The only one who had something interesting happen to him lately was Dimitri, and said thing was to be nearly killed, so it wasn't really a fun experience either.

A few of the eight members of the Blue Lions were currently practicing their archery skills. Standing shortly with light and grey hair, with a young-looking face full of freckles, Ashe Ubert was doing his best to control his breathing pace and focus on the target that he had placed several dozen meters away from him. However, his tranquil training was currently being disturbed by the banter of two other nearby students, causing the young Ashe to frown in annoyance.

To be fair, one of the two was just as much a victim of her fellow than Ashe, if not more so. Ingrid Brandl Galatea was trying to practice her skills with the bow and arrow as well, while her childhood friend, Sylvain Jose Gautier, rather preferred to try to tease her.

"Come on, Ingrid, trust me, I just want to show you the _right_ position for your elbow, or else you'll just send your arrows in random directions!" The intensely red-haired Casanova wannabe explained, as his blonde friend's frustrated expression grew more and more, until it culminated to an attempted back punch, which was fortunately – depending of the perspective, of course – dodged.

"If you really want to help, then just tell me what to do or go fight with the real men over there, instead of bothering me." The prideful heir of House Galatea retorted before going back to her practice.

"Wow, that was cold. That'll teach me to try and help you."

"That'll teach you to touch her and get on the nerves of everyone, you mean…" Replied Ashe in Ingrid's place, who was beginning to grow tired of Sylvain's flirting. "You aren't the only person in the arena, so get your lance and stop disturbing us, okay?"

"Okay, I got it. I'll get it in a minute…" Said Sylvain, finally surrendering. "Could you explain her, though? Her elbow really _is_ in a bad position…"

After the redhead was finally gone, Ashe stopped his training for a second to observe Ingrid's stature, as Sylvain had suggested, and he groaned a bit before calling out to her.

"Uh, Ingrid? Sylvain was right, actually. You do have a bad pose. Watch me, I'll show you how to change it."

While the blonde sighed and let Ashe do a demonstration to her, the rest of the boys of the class were getting ready for a rather different activity. The first one of them, Dimitri, had placed himself in the middle of his two classmates, lance in hand, and ready to spar. At his left, the brown hulking form of Dedue Molinaro stood his ground, with a wooden training axe in his right hand, his white hair and his usual emotionless expression. At his right, his former best friend Felix Hugo Fraldarius who was wielding a sword of similar purposes. The dark blue-haired boy, while technically he was the ally of Dedue for the duration of the bout, did not spare either of the other participants of the spar from the disdain in his eyes.

Without warning, the larger Dedue began to rush towards his House's leader and took a swing of his unsharpened axe at the royal heir. However, the hit was easily countered with a quick movement of Dimitri's lance which knocked the weapon right out of his vassal's hand. Taking advantage of his distraction, Felix sprung forward himself and prepared to land a blow on the lancer's side. While the latter was not able to outright counter, he did manage to block the attack which, while not lethal due to the nature of their equipment, would still have left a nasty bruise on him.

The two fighters then entered a brief blade lock, with Felix visibly needing to put in way more effort than his leader, if his furious frowning was of any indication. However, in the excitement of the moment, the young prince had completely forgotten about the huge Duscurian who wrapped his arms right around his liege's torso to obstruct his movements and allow Felix to exploit his forcefully downed guard. Right as the wooden sword was about to make contact with the prince's cheek, however, it stopped moving mid-swing, its wielder sporting a frustrated frown before he began to chew his ally out.

"Why did you restrain him? I could have beaten him on my own!" Complained the swordsman, pointing his blade in Dedue's direction as the Duscurian merely looked at him with a semi-confused expression.

"My role was to assist you in the bout, and that is what I did. If I hadn't intervened, then His Majesty would have defeated you effortlessly." After explaining himself, he then turned to Dimitri, bowing down. "I wish to offer my apologies for my dishonorable tactics, my liege."

"Oh, no, do not, please." Dimitri tried to reassure his friend. "If I want to really be successful on the battlefield, I need to be ready to face such strategies in the future. And besides, you did good. In a real fight, I would have been beaten."

While the prince and his servant discussed and their asocial sparring partner went on his own to practice his sword techniques, the other two girls of the group were calmly observing the various scenes occurring, not being much for physical training themselves.

The first one, Mercedes von Martritz, was smiling gently, amused by the banter that was going on around the place. Her long, extremely pale blond braided hair hanged on the side of her head before landing on her left shoulder. The second one, the short-haired redhead Annette Fantine Dominic, had more of an interested look than her companion, and she stretched a little before swinging her body around due to her immobility.

"Ooh… I think I should get moving a little, don't you think?" Asked Annette, while Mercedes glanced in her direction with a questioning look.

"Yes, it would certainly be good for you. You could maybe take a bow, like Ashe and Ingrid?" Mercedes asked back with that soft and motherly voice of hers, while Annette found herself a little flustered.

"Oh, oh no! If I did, I would end up hitting someone instead of the target… I would rather throw magic spells around. I'm far better at it!"

"If you say so, then you can simply go and train! I'll be cheering you on!" Encouraged the blonde, prompting Annette to go vent off her pent-up agitation as her elder student encouraged her, although she did so from a safe enough distance.

* * *

In the class of the Golden Deer, the ambiance of the group had more or less been self-defined as 'do whatever you feel like doing, because there is not yet a teacher to say otherwise'. As such, the eight students went at different occupations that befitted them best.

In the middle of the classroom, a few of them had assembled to take part of an activity proposed by Claude. It was a tabletop game that was proposing various hypothetical military scenarios, to which the participants would have to find sensible solutions given what the game left at their disposition, all with a large and high-quality map of Fodlan for the sake of the settings. So far, only Claude himself and two other students were actually playing his game, although the debates were already heated as it was.

The one who was the most invested was a young noble of the name of Lorenz Hellman Gloucester. The skinny boy sported what could very well be called the absolutely worst haircut of recent history, and he seemed to always search for a flaw in Claude's judgements and seek conflict with the House leader.

The second one who bothered to participate was Hilda Valentine Goneril, although she mainly watched the two boys clash and contented herself with stating obvious parts of the problems proposed and mostly looked over the debates of Claude and Lorenz with a discouraged look. She guessed that it was the kind of disagreement that caused decisions in times of need to be so long to make. Ah well, if she didn't need to make any mental effort toward their game because they were so busy arguing, it was her win.

"Claude, I cannot believe that you would even _consider_ a group of archers to be a good idea. The enemy is supposed to be skilled in horse mounting, and your soldiers will get slaughtered in a turn or two!" Complained the violet-haired noble to his game partner.

"Yes, this would be a fair point anywhere else, but as you can remark, the battle is going to place in the north of the Kingdom, in the mountains. There, their most prized skill will be a hindrance, and all we need to assure our troops' safety would be a few foot soldiers to keep the cavaliers at bay." Explained Claude, calmly exposing his reasoning. However, Lorenz was not going to capitulate and admit that his rival was right all along.

"This may be true, but you fail to take their weapon handling skills into consideration. They can easily dismount, and with their numbers, your foot soldiers will not stand a chance."

"Oh, yes, I know. If only there were hundreds of units ready to provide instantaneous support for the outnumbered troops…" Ignoring Claude's mockery, Lorenz frowned further and pointed on a few pieces that represented the enemy, which were marked with a '?'.

"You also need to take into account the fact that there are a few enemy units whose nature are unknown to us. What if they were flying?"

"In this case, this means that they are too far for us to identify them. By the time they arrive, we will be ready to confront them. It is a valid concern, though, because flying troops could provide support to the terrestrial troops before we can finish them off."

While the two continued arguing, the rest of the students preferred to entertain themselves with other matters. The youngest of the group, Lysethea von Ordelia, was busy reading one of her numerous manuals treating about magic usage. While she had already a good grasp on the matter, she knew that she needed to study it again and again for it to stay permanently ingrained in her mind. Besides her was Ignatz Victor, the meek bookworm of the group, even sporting glasses that made his face look even more dorky that he would otherwise. However, he had dropped his history book in favor of listening to Claude and Lorenz' banter, whose matter had somehow switched to the subject of axes whether being supposedly inferior to swords or not.

Meanwhile, further in the back of the room, was seated an absolute beast of a man, whose shirt struggled to contain his sheer muscle mass without losing a wooden button or two in the process. He also did not wear the standard dark blue overshirt that most had, although seeing what state his undershirt was in, it could be assumed that it was a lost cause. However, if his body implied a rough and tough individual, Raphael Kirsten's innocent and somewhat dim face would assure most of the contrary. He was currently busy eating some freshly cooked meatballs out from a small wooden spike while most of the rest of the class' attention was attracted to things that, while different in nature, were still relevant to their studies as a whole. To his credit, he had tried to get into Claude and Lorenz' game, but there was way too much talk of strategy and very few moments of actual battle in gameplay. After two hours, they were only at their third round.

After savoring yet another of his balls of cooked meat, Raphael bothered to look around him for a minute and he spotted a blue-haired girl hanging out by her lonesome in the back of the classroom. Marianne von Edmund, as usual, was lost in her own thoughts and, to Raphael, she seemed to be quite tired. Thus, he got up and went to her desk, accidently startling her in the process.

"Hey, Marianne! How's it doing, today?" Asked the gigantic man, smiling as wide as he could. The young woman, in response, flinched a bit at the unexpected appearance and bowed slightly to return his greetings. "So, uh, I noticed that you seemed to be quite sleepy lately. Here, take the rest of my meat, it will help you a little!" He exclaimed, smiling, before he turned back and tried once again to comprehend the complexities of the leader and his rival's strategies, which now apparently included teleporting wizards and a couple dozens of dancers.

As everyone else was either busy or simply observing others being busy, there was this one girl in the group who seemed to be about to start jumping around hysterically because of how excited she was. Indeed, Leonie Pinelli had heard of the arrival of Jeralt and his daughter Byleth, as well as their role in saving the lives of so many students.

Oh, there was also another shmuck who had helped out, but really, who cares? They probably didn't really need him.

Now, here she was, having finally managed to enroll in the school after three years of trying, only to have them arrive at the same time! Now, she wasn't mad anymore to have had to wait for this long to get in…

As the redhead woman continued to wander in her thoughts of her childhood heroes, Claude and Lorenz had nearly reached a compromise on how to operate their upcoming battle. However, the tanned leader noticed, from the corner of his eye, Lysethia who had closed her book and had begun stretching. Being the eternal schemer that he is, he deduced that she was currently being more aware of her surroundings, which would be the best opportunity to…

"But, there is one more thing we need to take into account, Lorenz."

"And what is it?" Responded the heir of the Gloucester, visibly eager to get the debate over with.

"The _ghosts_…"

At this, while Lorenz' reaction was a simple 'what', Lysethia's eyes had widened as her head jerked around to look at Claude. Perfect, he thought.

"You know, the ones that come to harass the wizards during the night? You need a sock to be hanged over your bed for them to leave you alone, especially when they are young children and-"

Having glanced aside to see if his improvised teasing had succeeded, Claude found out to his horror that it had – a bit _too_ well – and that the white-haired magic prodigy was staring at him with absolute fury, right into his soul.

Before Lorenz or Hilda could react to the ridiculous notions he had mentioned, Claude bolted out of the classroom, chased by Lysethia, while pleading for her to calm down.

* * *

"So, now that you have a good idea of the lovely youth who has come here this time, so I shall leave the choice to you. Hanneman?" Seteth finished speaking while looking over the Crest specialist with a curious, but tired expression.

The old teacher, in response, adopted a pensive look and hummed to himself while reflecting on his options. After a moment, Manuela became progressively impatient while Byleth merely contented herself with observing the bureau, stoic as ever. Finally, after a while, the grey-haired scientist seemed to have made his decision.

"I believe that I will teach the Blue Lions, this year." He said simply, prompting Manuela to reply with an unimpressed expression.

"Yes, of course. You couldn't let this occasion of studying the Crest of Blaiddyd slip, now could you?"

"Oh, please, stop acting as if Crests dictated every part of my life, I have other hobbies, I'll let you know!" Exclaimed the older man with an undignified tone. When his female colleague stared back with a smirk, he cleared his throat.

"Fine, I will admit, I _do _wish to get a close study of the Crest of Blaiddyd, but all my decisions are not made in relation to them."

"Ha! I am ready to bet that you have already 'burrowed' a strand of hair from our new colleague here already for your machine." Manuela snarked in victory, pointing to Byleth, who was currently particularly unimpressed by her fellow teachers' attitude. Seteth, for his part, was clearly losing his patience with these two by the second, at least if his reddening face was of any indication.

"Manuela! I would never do this kind of things without her consent and you know it!" Rebuffed an offended Hanneman, right before he turned to the aforementioned Byleth and seemed to get ready to ask her for something when came Seteth's strained voice.

"Manuela. May you make your choice, please?"

"Oh, yes, right… I have decided that I will be teaching the Black Eagles. After all, the famous 'Mystical Songstress' is part of them and I would not miss this for anything!"

"Very well, then you are dismissed, both of you. Get your childish banter out of my office." Ordered the bureaucrat, letting out a heavy sigh of relief even if the two's arguing could still be heard in the corridor. He then turned to Byleth, who had been sitting quietly and with no movement for the entire time.

"Finally… As for you, Miss, it seems that you will be assigned to the Golden Deer for this year. Will you need help to find their classroom?"

After a reassuring nod from Byleth, the green-haired man briefly closed his eyes while placing his face in his palm, while the young woman got up from her chair and began to leave in order to meet her future students.

While she got out of the room, she almost bumped into a young girl who was trying to move in.

"Oh, I am very sorry. Is my brother's meeting over yet?"

At this, Byleth couldn't help but blink twice in incredulity. Seteth's _sister_? She looked well young enough to be his daughter! Ah well, she wasn't here to judge the time at which people had babies, but to go and try to make a bunch of kids the best warriors that Foddlan has ever seen.

* * *

_Swing_

_Swing_

"So, this is what the kids train with, right?"

Link held in his hands one of the wooden swords that were usually stored in the training grounds and he was performing a few practice attacks with it in the air to test their viability. With the Blue Lions having been called over to their classroom to meet their new teacher, the Hylian figured that it would be the perfect opportunity to get to understand how things worked in this place. Not far from him was the instructor Jeritza who, despite having no particular intention to have the Hero's company, did so nonetheless since he never went that far from the arena anyway.

"Usually, yes. They are made to be non-lethal, so we do not lose anyone by accident." Replied the masked man, sitting on the sand while resting his back on a pillar. "Killing is for the field, apparently."

"Alright, I get it… although, I think one could easily kill people if they swung it hard enough, couldn't they? I mean, I've used even worse things than that. Like a mop!" Slowly losing interest in the useless moves he performed in the air, Link turned to the weapon instructor and nodded in his direction, as if gesturing that he was indeed talking to him. "Have you been teaching for long here?"

"No, I have not. I have been assigned this role at the end of last year." Came the slow and deep voice of Jeritza, prompting the Hylian to push a bit more with his questions. It was a rare occasion these days that he had any meaningful social interaction, and he was currently hanging out with a fellow fighter, so it was even better!

"You must be quite skilled, then, right? Why didn't they make _you_ the new teacher instead of this mercenary girl?"

"I do not know, and I do not care to know. I am already an instructor for all three Houses, and maybe they simply do not see me fit as a general teacher."

"Yes, yes… I guess it is true…" Looking around him, Link observed the arena and discovered that they were the only two people occupying it at the moment. At this realization, his eyes widened slightly as his face adopted a mischievous smile.

"So, if you are indeed this good, then why don't we have a spar right here, right now?" As if illustrating his words, Link pointed the training sword in Jeritza's direction, probably trying to incite him further with the gesture.

"… I have no time for those who overestimate their abilities."

That was it. The very rarely active competitive streak inside Link's head had just been triggered. _Hard_.

"Oh, so you think I'm all bark and no bite? That I am a renown hero back home for just showing up and the bad guy dying? Well, _I_ think that you would keep your tongue in if you had seen just what kind of abominations I faced, or the things I can pull off." Link began to ramble, while walking over to the stash of wooden weapons to grab a second of the swords there.

"You mean, the magical sword that the mercenaries have seen you use? Impressive for you to possess, but not if you need it to be relevant in battle…" Jeritza's tone was just like it had been since the beginning of their conversation, but a quick look under his white mask would reveal that he had a little grin that had begun to form.

"So, the Master Sword is what scares you? Don't worry, I'm willing to use the shitty ones if that's what it takes. Come on, grab your weapon and fight me. I've not fought someone with actual talent in months."

The blonde Hylian then proceeded to throw the second sword he had retrieved to his soon-to-be opponent, who caught it without any issue. Supposedly accepting Link's request, the masked instructor stood up and went into a casual fighting pose before his foe could do the same.

"So, what are your rules, outsider?"

"To the first weapon hit, or until the weapon of one of us snaps."

"Does the second rule really need to be applied?" Asked Jeritza, one of his hidden eyebrows lifting.

"If you do not think you could break them, then you stand no chance. Now, En Garde!"

"En Garde."

After this quick exchange, the two swordsmen stood still for a few seconds, trying to spot an opening for them to exploit. However, none of them was willing to move an inch.

Jeritza may love fighting, but he was not a fool. Even with all of his skills and strength, a talented opponent could take advantage of a reckless move from him and despite his previous bravado, he had heard of the outsider's exploits while helping the mercenaries, and as such he was very wary of making a rushed attack.

There was, however, one thing that worked against him in this scenario. Indeed, his body was tensing up with every second passing, his being craving more and more for the eventual clash of his and Link's blade. Jeritza knew that this state he was in was going to weaken his defensive game, thus he decided that he needed to make the first move. Retracting the sword behind him, he suddenly jumped in the Hylian's direction in order to attempt a strike at the side of his foe's abdomen.

The latter, however, had been preparing for Jeritza to make his move and responded by moving his body slightly to the side so he could deflect the blow with relative ease. See, redirecting kinetic energy was way less difficult than outright blocking it if you know what you are doing. When Jeritza arrived at his foe's position, he was suddenly tossed to the side as Link's weapon pushed against his own.

At this moment, the masked instructor's mind rapidly processed the situation. Even though his opponent had been in a favorable position to redirect his blow, the force that he had felt being pushed against him was quite excessive, seeing as how he was literally thrown to the ground. Rolling around in order to regain his footing as quickly as possible, Jeritza erected right back up in order to face the Hylian once again.

When he locked into eye contact with Link again, he could distinguish the sparkle in his eyes, so characteristic of those who truly loved combat. If one wasn't as keen-eyed as Jeritza for this sort of thing, however, Link's wide grin would indicate his enjoyment just as well.

Yet, looking at the outsider's posture and demeanor would tell a completely different story. He stood still with little to no movements, with his blade being kept perfectly steady in the air, ready to parry anything that may come in his way, while his eyes expertly scrutinized every move on the weapon instructor's part in order to adapt to them.

In other words, he was a defensive fighter, and a pretty good one, at that. However, if the power he had used in his parry was any indication, he didn't possess a great control over his own strength and as such he would waste his energy if forced into movement too often.

As such, he decided that he was going to tire out the Hylian and attempted another attack. Aiming for the side of Link's thorax, he put in a high, but controlled amount of force in order to make sure of just how strong his opponent really was.

However, when his training sword was about to make contact with the outsider's body, the latter's own weapon swiped in and blocked the attack so quickly that even Jeritza had had trouble fully registering it. This fact alone unnerved the masked instructor enough, but he could clearly see that his foe was putting barely any effort into blocking.

Lifting an unimpressed eyebrow, Link effortlessly pushed Jeritza away before letting out a slight sigh.

"Come on, I can tell you're still holding back. Give it your all or let's end it right now."

And that was the moment when the fragile composure of the instructor shattered.

It was not from fear, humiliation or simple nervousness, though. It was the pure excitement that was flowing through him that completely changed Jeritza's demeanor. A wide grin formed on his face as he strengthened his grip on his wooden blade, getting ready to resume the battle.

If this man wanted a legitimate challenge, then he was going to be given one.

Thus, once again the masked swordsman rushed toward his Hylian opponent, but this time he had been too quick to effectively parry, and Link was legitimately forced on the defensive. After a first strike, he refused to give his foe any time to organize a counter-attack and continued his successive attempts at finally landing a definitive hit. No matter how strong or fast he was, however, his blade always ended up getting moved out of its intended path.

After a few parried attacks, Jeritza realized that his current tactic was not working as well as he had hoped it would, and as such he recoiled his arm a bit further in order to put all of his power into a final blow that would certainly end the match. When his arm moved forward, he awaited to find out if Link could actually parry him at full strength…

Except that the Hylian hadn't bothered to. Instead, in the supplementary fraction of a second it had taken for Jeritza to perform his stronger move, he decided that he would dodge the attack entirely by using all the strength of his legs to jump into the air, performing an elegant backflip in the process.

Then, what proceeded to happen was so quick that Jeritza hadn't been able to process it before he was on the ground, with his abdomen feeling as if it had been bashed in under the sheer force of the attack he had just received.

Once he was properly able to realize his situation, he saw Link with his foot in the air, as if he had just kicked him.

But… it wasn't possible! One second, Link was one meter and a half up in the air, and then the next, Jeritza was struck down. Had his opponent moved so quickly that he hadn't seen it at all?

He was not about to give up, however. The weapon instructor promptly got up as quickly as possible, slightly calming down from his previous reckless state. He was not given any chance to plan another offensive, though, when Link himself jumped at him, about to perform a reverse swing directly at Jeritza. In the heat of the moment, the instructor imitated the Hero's movements, despite being in a clear disadvantage in a fair clash.

When their swords connected, however, Jeritza wasn't projected backwards as he had predicted, from where he could have evaded Link's next attack. No, instead, when he briefly looked at his right hand, he found out to his annoyance that the wooden material had failed to remain whole after the force of the clash.

However, as he was ready to admit defeat, he noticed that Link had an expression of resigned discouragement on his face. It took the instructor a few seconds before he realized that the Hylian had snapped his sword as well, effectively ending the match on a draw.

As Jeritza was slowly regaining his composure, he turned around to Link in order to felicitate him on a well fought duel, until he received a wooden object flung in his face, making him close his eyes in reflex. When he opened them, he was met with the sight of the outsider in the after-pose of throwing his severed pommel at him, with the goofiest grin that he had ever seen on the Hylian's face. In response to this childish provocation, Jeritza could only utter a deep sigh.

"I shall retract what I claimed earlier, outsider. Your sills are definitively worthy of praise in their own right." Said Jeritza, tossing his own handle on the ground.

"Selling it a bit short, now are we? I can't really blame you, though. It's obvious that you're very talented, so being grounded so easily can be a little shocking." Responded Link, sighing in satisfaction.

"Our match has ended on a draw, so do not act as though you actually won."

"Alright, I get it. I'll just look forward seeing the kind of lectures you give. By the way, I could see that you were enjoying yourself as well. You had the same crazy eyes I have when I fight for real."

At this, however, Jeritza frowned slightly. To know that his other side had surfaced for a moment was problematic to him. He would have to see that it never happened again.

"Well, I think I made the right choice to stick around. I certainly look forward to working with you, Jeritza."

After saying this, the Hylian promptly went to exit the training grounds, leaving Jeritza alone in the training arena. Profiting of this short time alone, he made sure to take a few mental notes on the outsider.

He was skilled, extremely so, and he fought in a mostly defensive manner.

He was strong, so much in fact that he barely had to put in effort to parry Jeritza's own blows.

He was quick, to the point that he could evade a hit and retaliate before his foe could comprehend what happened.

Oh boy, they were not going to love having to deal with this guy, Jeritza was sure of it.

* * *

Arriving in front of the classroom of the Golden Deers, Byleth was welcomed with the utter cacophony that the group had developed while they were unsupervised. When listening closely, she could vaguely distinguish Claude's voice, but that was as far as she could go. From the volume and tonality of the voices, she could also tell that there was a heated debate going on.

Then, once the new professor made herself visible to her new students, they all suddenly stopped, with all of them turning to observe the figure that had appeared in their room's doorframe.

With a solemn walk, Byleth approached the small group, immediately recognizing Claude's tanned visage while examining the rest. Most of them did not remind her of anyone, except for Leonie, who triggered a feeling of Déjà vu for her. The first to utter a word after this instant was Lorenz, with a quite incredulous expression.

"Claude, from her appearance, I suppose that she is the woman who helped you fight these bandits, am I right?"

"Yep. It is definitively her. I'm glad that you came, miss!"

"But… didn't they say that we would be meeting our House teacher, today… which means that… Continued the heir of the Gloucester with a slight gasp.

"That _you _are our new professor?" Finished Hilda, with just as much of a dumbstruck expression as her noble classmate. After an approving nod from the former mercenary, the reaction of the group in general was pretty much the same as their violet and pink-haired fellows.

"Wait, so they asked for a mercenary to take the role of a teacher at the Officer's Academy?" Asked Ignatz.

"Who cares if she's a mercenary? Hasn't she saved Claude already?" Angrily asked Leonie, causing the smaller boy to squirm.

"N-no! I was just… wondering… about her abi – I mean her experience in the matter, that's all!"

"In any case…" Interrupted Raphael, separating the two a little to avoid any escalation in their argument. "I find it quite nice to have someone of around our age to teach us. We'll be like a big family!" He then looked around him to see his classmates' reactions, with Claude nodding with a wide smile.

"Doesn't a family normally have at least one parent, someone older?" Asked Lysethia in return, completely innocently. However, to her surprise, she was met with a very uncomfortable expression on Ignatz' face. "What?"

"Anyway, professor, I sincerely hope that you will not have too much trouble with us. As you've seen, our clique's a bit of a weird bunch. You have three nobles, a merchant, a child prodigy, a knight to be, one farmer girl – sorry, 'mercenary in training' – and a handsome young man."

"I've seen worse bunches in my life. I'll manage." Responded Byleth with her usual emotionless expression. Then, she caught the sight of Marianne, who had still not uttered a single word. She figured that she would open up a bit more in the future. "In any case, for today, I'll be meeting each one of you privately to get to know what you're good at. I suppose you've heard of the mock battle?"

As soon as she mentioned what was pretty much going to be a practice match, the faces of her new students changed, with their new looks varying from excitement to apprehension, with Ignatz even displaying outright fear.

"I can only bring four of you, and we will not be able to discuss for long about our strategy, so those who want to take part will. The rest, you will be able to train at a later date, so you will not be missing out."

"Wow, going straight to business, I like it. We've already made acquaintances, so I'll be leaving the rest of our time today to our friends. Lorenz, will you continue our game with me for now?"

"Sadly, no, Claude. As the most proper representative of our House, I intend to get a good judgement on our professor before anything else." And thus, with a shrug from Claude, the young noble walk forward to his new teacher.

Moving to the back of the class with Lorenz, Byleth took a look at the rest of her eccentric class, who were returning to the occupations they were attending to before her arrival, with the only difference being Claude discarding the board game he had been playing with Lorenz until now.

Oh boy, she was in for quite a trip, wasn't she?

* * *

After his short, but fun spar with Jeritza, Link had decided to begin to explore the monastery's grounds while the teachers and the students were making acquaintances. He was supposed to go see Rhea again, later that evening, so she could propose an adequate role for him in the academy. Until then, the Hylian figured that it would not hurt to get a good view on his potential place of residence for an unspecified period of time.

Usually, merely walking around didn't suffice to get a good idea of what an area looks like, at least in Link's opinion. For that, he needed to climb up to an elevated position so he could get a sweet aerial view of his surroundings. In his usual wandering days, he would simply have to go up a hill or climb a tree. Here, though, the only very tall things around were the several buildings of the Academy.

For anyone else, it would have been a bummer. For Link, it was a minor inconvenience.

Getting out from the training grounds, he eyed up the first building that came into his field of vision, in which were situated the main classrooms of the three Houses. Pretty tall, but not outrageously so, and the brick-made walls made for excellent supports. Thus, Link approached its walls and began his ascension.

A few seconds after the beginning of his climb, he briefly wondered if the staff would see an issue with what he was doing, but since next to nobody was out of the buildings, he figured that nobody would actually be fussed by such a thing. Instead of worrying, Link instead took a deep breath and continued going upward.

Link liked climbing. In fact, he adored it. Maybe it was because it allowed him to reach so many interesting areas to explore, because he escaped so many hordes of monsters this way back when he was still recovering his strength, or because it simply offered such a magnificent view most of the time back in Hyrule, but one thing was sure: climbing always filled Link with a sense of tranquility. Not enough to quench these nasty feelings that had been creeping on him lately, but still enough to calm him down a bit.

Once he reached the rooftop, the Hero of Hyrule examined his new surroundings for a moment. He was not yet on the highest roof of the area, but it still gave him a nice view on the grounds below. He could even see the greenhouse and the dorms. However, after a quick search, he found a point that was even higher: a tower which held the bell that probably announced the end of day and the lunch time, and if he guessed the locations correctly, it seemed to erect from over the room he had met Seteth and Rhea in.

Thus, with a new objective in mind, the Hylian resumed his ascension toward the highest place possible, grasping on the walls of the tower. Admittedly, the bricks had been carved carefully and were almost flawlessly polished, which made his climb a bit more tedious than he would have wished it to be. Finally, though, after a few minutes he reached the top. It was quite standard, with a pyramid-esque shape and covered in roof tiles. As he steadied his stance, he gave a look to the new scenery that offered itself to him…

And it was gorgeous.

As he had predicted, the height of the mountain that the mountain was built on as well as the height of the building itself permitted him to see kilometers upon kilometers away in all directions, from the verdant fields of Gronder to the volcanic region known as the Valley of Torment, and even further mountain chains, at the north. The fact that he could not see the ocean in neither direction reminded him of just how vast Fodlan was when compared to his homeland.

In the years he had spent exploring Hyrule, he had managed to find a few spots where he could see most of the kingdom, and even one near the Gerudo desert from where he could see it in its entirety. Yes, this vantage point back then was higher than how he was right now, but it was nonetheless quite indicative of the size difference of the two regions.

After eyeing the landscape for some time, he decided to make himself more comfortable and sat on the edge of the small rooftop he was standing on, and then he looked up and uttered a deep, liberating sigh, and then he reflected on the recent events.

So, he was possibly going to be hired as some sort of fighter for this Church of Seiros. While they had promised to look for an occupation that would fit him, Link nevertheless wondered if it would end up like with Zelda back in the day…

Continuing to ruminate those thoughts for a certain time, he took the occasion to perform a little nap in his current position which, all things considered, made for quite a silent spot. Sadly, as all good things must come to an end, he eventually saw that the sun had begun lowering quite a lot and, as a result, he decided to get down to ground level before the end of the classes.

After standing up and evaluating the height he was currently at, he reached for his Sheika Plate and popped out of it the most prized item he had ever kept inside of it.

The Kite.

This little beauty, constructed with the best Rito craftmanship, had stayed at his side for the entire duration of his travels up to date. It had allowed him to effectuate delicate descents, to effectively use a certain special technique, or just to save his life in case of a fall. It looked like it was going to serve the latter purpose for today.

Taking a little momentum prior, Link threw himself off the roof as fast as he could, his attention fully focused on the ground below him. As he fell at an increasingly high speed, he did his best to evaluate the moment that he would splash on the ground.

Then, at the very last moment, he deployed his kite in order to slow himself down. While the weight he had gained in his early adulthood years lessened its effect a little, it nonetheless reduced his speed enough so that he could land unharmed. Satisfied with his stunt, Link stored his precious kite back into his plate before he went to his planned meeting.

As he commenced his small walk, the bell he had just been over began ringing loudly, with its appeasing melody traversing the whole monastery. This, however, prompted the way less peaceful sound of dozens of people who were getting out of their respective classes in order to do whatever they had planned for the evening.

Entering the main hall of the monastery, the Hylian noticed that there were actually a few soldiers who weren't assigned to whatever task at the moment. He had just been lucky enough to have jumped back down in a relatively desert area of the Academy so he didn't attract unnecessary trouble. Among the warriors were Alois and Jeralt, who were supposedly talking of the latter's future endeavors at the Church's service and both of them greeted Link as he passed past them with a nod.

Pass another uneventful minute, and the Hero of Hyrule found himself in front of the room where he would have to discuss his potential arrangement with the Church.

Sighing in apprehension, he walked inside. At the sidelines had been positioned several guards, who would have looked like lifeless statues if one hadn't twitched by sheer boredom as the blonde Hylian observed them. In truth, they had been there earlier as well, but Link had not bothered to examine this room this thoroughly before. In the middle of the place was Rhea, with her calm gaze meeting his own, and the two stood in front of each other for a few seconds before the Archbishop took parole.

"So, Link, have you come to share your decision with us?"

At this moment, the brief trance that Link had been plunged into abruptly stopped and he cleared his throat before answering.

"Well, it'll all depend on what we agree on. I have already told you some specifics, so…"

He stopped right in his track before he could finish his phrase, however. He couldn't place his finger on it, but there was something about Rhea that he didn't feel was right. Maybe it was her seemingly exaggerated serenity, or rather her way to stare deeply into her interlocutors' eyes? Either way, this woman didn't make him comfortable at all.

"Yes, and quite clearly in fact. 'To be able to fight monsters and bad people and to be given as much freedom as possible', those were your words. I could assign you to a particular mission every month, but I do not feel like this would be a good agreement for you." As she spoke, her deep and sooth voice seemed to have a calming event on Link, which ironically only increased his feelings of unease around her.

"From what you have told me and Seteth earlier today, you used to roam freely in your homeland, performing acts that I presume were of similar nature to when you saved our children last night. Is this right?" After a nod from her Hylian interlocutor, she continued. "However, you have quitted your kingdom after many years of traveling in it, traversing Dagda and Brigid before arriving here, in Foddlan."

'_Where is she going to with this?'_ Thought Link for a split second as she spoke. Weren't they supposed to agree on a deal of some sort?

"I believe, Link, that you did not actually depart from your homeland from boredom or simple taste of adventure. A man cannot simply experience every single thing to live in an entire kingdom in his lifetime. You came all the way from Hyrule to here in Foddlan, because you could not find fulfillment. Do you agree?"

Hearing this, Link's heart twisted slightly in his torso as his brow furrowed. He had never talked to _anyone_, except for Sidon and Zelda, of this kind of thing. Oh, yes, he had also talked about it to some people in Brigid… and this noble in the Adestrian Empire…

But this was irrelevant, as the point was that all he had told this lady and her bureaucrat sidekick was that he had left Hyrule a few years ago and that was it. End of story.

"Why are we talking about this, exactly?" Asked the blonde Hylian with discernable annoyance in his voice.

"So we can make an agreement that is fitting of you. As your demands stand, I cannot make you an honorary Knight of Seiros, since this function would ask of you an exemplary devotion to our cause." Now, Rhea was looking down, with a faintly sadder expression on her visage. "However, I cannot let a soul devoid of meaning to simply continue on their path of spiraling loneliness. Thus, I have decided on something to propose you."

"… Go on…" Cautiously prompted Link.

"If you wish so, there could always be a place for you at the Monastery of Garrech Mach, as well as the possibility to take part in any mission that you could want. Furthermore, you would be notified of bandit and monster positions regularly. What would you think of this?"

"…" At this, Link could only stand silently, waiting for further conditions to be mentioned. When those failed to come, however, his expression changed from irritation to confused surprise. "Is… is this all? What do you have to gain from this?"

"The Church of Seiros itself will not gain much, at least for now. However, the lands of Fodlan would benefit greatly if a free and generous soul such as you was allowed to flourish and act on their own volition. Do you not agree?"

Link had to admit, Rhea was smart. She had accurately pinpointed the exact things she needed to manipulate him into becoming a part of her group. Right now, she said he could roam free, but what would come later? She will probably try to make him an actual member of her military force given enough time.

Nonetheless, her proposal was _extremely_ tempting. In only the last day, his usually bland and lonely life had been filled with pleasant discussions – or at least for someone who hadn't talked to a human being for weeks prior –, nice acquaintances, and even a pretty fun fight. In only the last day, he had enjoyed himself more than in the last _months_. He had just been offered the chance to pass some time among those people who, by the looks of it, appreciated fighting as well, and even the students with whom he could potentially teach his skills to somebody. On the other hand, he could return to the wilderness, and continue to search for caverns for the rainy nights, and to only be entertained by monster wolves from time to time…

Nope. He was not doing that again.

"I agree, and I accept. Gladly."

* * *

***Chapter notes***

**So, now we have the class which Byleth will spend the year with, but do not think that this means that the other Houses won't get love as well.**

**Also, this chapter marks the first actual 'battle' to be described, being Link vs Jeritza. Did it do well enough for a fight scene? How could I remedy to it? Don't hesitate to leave feedback!**


	4. Ch 4 - The mock battle

Harpstrings Moon

Foddlan year 1880

When Byleth woke up, her unfamiliar surroundings initially made her mind confused briefly, before she remembered where she was and why she was there.

She had passed the night in the rather comfortable room that the Church had provided her in exchange for her service as a professor for the Golden Deers, a gesture that was undoubtedly appreciated by the former mercenary.

As she slowly got out of her bed, Byleth reminded herself of the ordeals of the day. The first thing that came to mind was the mock battle which was going to be disputed around noon, and the thought made the new professor slightly apprehensive. Not nervous, mind you, merely unsure of her team's chances.

In order to even the odds, she had ordered her students to come during the morning in the Golden Deer's classroom. There was not meant to be an official class today, due to the unique activity, but Byleth had deemed vital to organize a strategic meeting, at which all were mandated to come.

Now, though, it was the time to actually prepare herself for her day. Moving to her wardrobe, she began to look for her usual outfit, a light (a bit too light, some had said) armor made of a mix of metal plates and extra-resistant fabric. For added esthetics, she wore a cloak, which was really just a dark coat with its sleeves cut open to let her arms slip out.

After changing from her nightly underwear to her normal clothing, the former mercenary grabbed the book of rules that she had been reading since the day before. Since it was still only around five in the morning, she figured that she could take some time to continue her reading.

Thus, she sat on her desk and opened her Guide of Disciplinary Rules of the Officers' Academy (written by Seteth) and narrowed her eyes to better decipher the inscriptions inside.

She had never particularly liked to read. Her father had forced her to learn how to do it when she was still very young, but it always ended up getting her bored more than anything else. Moreover, a mercenary's life is not necessarily full of paperwork, and thus, fortunately, she did not have to read that much often. As a result, she never really learned to write that much either.

Now, though, she kind of needed to know what was and wasn't acceptable in the monastery. After all, she had a lot of plans for her students' schooling and she had to know if she was allowed to do them or not. Already, she had to forgo some of her ideas, mostly those involving honey and charcoal.

Their loss. It had done wonders for some of her dad's recruits.

After a few minutes of reading, sure enough, she could hardly keep her focus on the figures anymore, so she decided that she had done enough for now. She just hoped that she could do a good job as a teacher with only simple diagrams and images on a chalkboard.

Now that she thought about it, though, the fact that the Archbishop had just entrusted a random fighter with teaching a bunch of students around her own age while not even bothering to verify her competences – such as her writing capability – was quite curious. Add to this the blonde outsider who had been allowed to reside at the monastery for as long as he wanted, and there were now a lot of questions to be asked.

However, right now it was not her job to ask questions, but to go teach a bunch of kids and maybe get them to a victory this afternoon.

* * *

When Lorenz arrived at his House's classroom this morning, he had been expecting to be the first student to arrive, but to his surprise and dismay, he had actually been beaten. Indeed, the young Lysithea was already sitting at one of the front desks, focused on one of her books. Continuing to look around, he spotted the commoner Leonie as well who, noticing him, frowned and averted her gaze.

Slightly disappointed at the fact that he hadn't been the most exemplary student at this instant, the young noble cleared his throat and took a seat near the white-haired magical prodigy before diverting his attention at his new professor, Byleth, at the front.

The former mercenary, for her part, was currently busy preparing the 'lecture' that she was about to give her class. So far, she had brought enough training weapons of each type for any student who may want to use them later that day and she had begun scribbling the mock battle's field as well as the three Houses' positions on the place's chalkboard. She had managed to get Seteth to give her some information on their battlefield so she could actually plan ahead. He had not been happy to be disturbed so soon in the morning, but he did respect the new professor's dedication, and so he obliged.

From what she had learned, it was a fairly small plain near the monastery which was never used for agriculture or housing. There were a few pockets of forest here and there, mostly at the east, north-west and south, which Byleth definitively intended to use as cover. Each House's position was in some sort of clearing made by these woods: the Black Eacles at the north-west, the Blue Lions at the north-east, and finally the Golden Deers at the south.

As the new professor pondered on the various tactical possibilities, the classroom began to fill up with the rest of the students. At the time that she had told them all to come, she turned to her bunch of rookies, making sure that all of them were present, before she took parole.

"Alright. Good morning, kids. Before we discuss the strategy of this afternoon's battle, we need to determine just who will be participating. Have you thought of this yesterday?"

After this question, Byleth had expected to see at least five or six hands being raised, so she could have a few options to choose from. To her disappointment, only three volunteered: Claude, Lorenz and Leonie. Of the rest, Hilda and Ignatz were looking around, hoping not to get chosen, while Lysithea, Marianne and Raphael were all focused on something else entirely. At this sight, the former mercenary could only wonder what the latter five were in the academy for.

After a moment, however, the biggest member of the group looked around him, getting out of his hunger-induced trance, and realized what was going on. He then promptly lifted his own hand.

"Hey, if no one else wants to go, I might as well put my muscles to good use, right?"

Alright, so now Byleth had a good idea of her team. An archer, a girl with somewhat of a training behind her, a snotty noble and a brawler. It wasn't a fantastic combination, but it did offer at least some diversity.

"Good. Now, let's talk strategy."

* * *

The sun was already tapping hard on the small field of the monastery as the Three Houses and the school staff were moving onto the battlefield. While the representative of the classes went to their assigned position, the teachers and House leaders went to the middle of it all to exchange some good sportsmanship wishes.

During this time, Jeralt and Link had moved to a hill not far from the small area, from which they could view the entirety of the battle. For the former, it was essential, as he had been tasked by Rhea to be the referee of the entire event.

As for Link, he had insisted on coming in order to witness the little scuffle that was about to begin. As ever, he was in search of a little entertainment in his day, and he figured that seeing a bunch of kids beating each other up could provide a little of it. While Seteth had not liked the idea of the Hylian observing the students, the fact that Jeralt would supervise him mitigated his worries somewhat. As the discussion between the House leaders was going on, the Hero of Hyrule stretched a little and sat on the verdant grass before turning his head to look at the former mercenary.

"So, Jeralt, could you explain to me what's the deal with the Knights of Seiros? What do they do?"

After giving the Hylian a quick glance, the Blade Breaker nonchalantly redirected his gaze onto the field below them as he responded.

"If you really want to know, they are kind of the Archbishop's personal military forces. They are often sent to aid the main factions when needed. Mostly, we take care of bandits and monsters plaguing the commercial roads, or we fight against the Church of Seiros' enemies."

Satisfied with the answer, Link nodded slowly and absent-mindedly played with a small rock he had just found until Jeralt asked him a question of his own.

"Why do you ask? Did Rhea try to recruit you or something?"

"Well, not exactly. She said that I was free to act as I pleased, at least for now, but I'm sure she wants me in your ranks someday."

At this, Jeralt actually glanced over the younger Hylian a second time with an air of worry in his visage. He took a deep breath and looked around them, as if making sure nobody else could hear what they had to say.

"Listen, kid. I am not going to try to convince you to join or not, and all of this is just between us, but…"

"… But?" Inquired Link, now intrigued by the mercenary's attitude.

"But there is a reason I left, 20 years ago."

"What, did your 'Lady Rhea' do something to you? You don't seem comfortable around her."

"She never did anything to me. I know she has hurt other people in the past, but I do not know how."

As the newly re-appointed Knight seemed to become increasingly stressed, Link decided that he would change the subject, but not before making a mental note of this interesting piece of information.

"So, about this mock battle, basically it's a free-for-all, right?"

Fortunately, this seemed to succeed in calming Jeralt down, if even only a little, if his softening facial features were any indication.

"Yes, four students per House, plus their teachers, that makes fifteen fighters in total on the battlefield. One House wins when all of their opponents are down."

"I see. Personally, who do you think will win this?"

"I trust my kid to bring these brats to victory, although the Blue Lions seem to be well organized. Besides, they are taking their positions, so your question should be answered soon."

* * *

While Edelgard and Manuela had departed to exchange a few words with the other teachers and House leaders, the young Ferdinand von Aegir's mind was busy trying to come up with the best strategy to overcome both the Blue Lions and the Golden Deer.

His own leader had proposed that they used the thick forest they were assigned to as cover in order to ambush incoming attacks from the east, while they took advantage of the barriers at the south with their long-range weapons. Of course, her sidekick Hubert had sided with her.

While the noble redhead certainly saw the merit in these tactics, there was one minor problem for the noblest of nobles: it was cowardly. Yes, he wanted to win. However, it would not be done in a way that would transpire so badly on the House!

Meanwhile, Dorothea was practicing the Thunder spell that Edelgard had taught her in the last week. While she was surprisingly good at casting magic, she still needed to increase her stamina since she usually could only use the attack thrice in a short timeframe. Thus, she needed to make all of these count as much as possible, and it was absolutely vital that at least her precision was top-notch.

Hubert, for his part, contended himself with merely standing still and preparing himself mentally, evaluating each possibility that could happen during the battle. His reflection was short-lived, however, since Ferdinand soon came to his side to discuss his… 'brilliant' strategies.

"You cannot argue that if we attacked the Golden Deers as a unified front, they would be caught off-guard. After we finish picking them off, then we only need to worry about the Blue Lions."

"You are forgetting to take the new professor into account." Replied the tall servant with a sigh and a glare before closing his eyes as he thought of their situation. "She is not a coward like the previous one, but a fierce mercenary, and certainly not someone to be taken lightly. And before you propose to switch to attacking the Blue Lions first, you should realize that the prince is more than strong enough to take both you and Lady Edelgard on. We need to fight safely if we want to triumph."

"I think you are underestimating the power we have at hand. If-"

"It is better to overestimate your enemy than the opposite, idiot. Now, go back to your post and wait for the start of the battle."

As the son of Duke Aegir went back to the barrier at the south of their position, Hubert looked around and a rare smile appeared on his face as he caught sight of Edelgard approaching alongside Manuela.

"Lady Edelgard." He said formally, bowing as he ever did in her presence.

"Hello, Hubert." Replied the House leader with a faint smile of her own. "Is everyone ready?"

"Dorothea has been practicing her Thunder, and Ferdinand is merely supposed to be guarding the southern part of our territory." Hubert's face then took a somber turn as he checked around them. When it became clear to him that neither Manuela nor one of their fellow students were within hearing distance, he whispered.

"The outsider has come to observe the battle, alongside Sir Jeralt. Do you really think he could…"

"We cannot assume that he isn't, Hubert. You know what they are capable of. Tonight, we will be able to determine a plan of action." Her visage then sharpened as renewed determination shone in her eyes. "For now, we have a battle to win."

"Yes, of course. I will be assisting Ferdinand, to make sure he doesn't ruin our strategy."

On these words, Edelgard and Hubert separated, ready for the moment when Jeralt would signal the beginning of the battle.

* * *

The ambiance at the Blue Lions' position was calm and collected as the chosen fighters were silently preparing their weapons for the upcoming battle. In the stronghold that they were in possession of, Hanneman was pondering on the course of actions that his fellow teachers would take. He had fought against Manuela many times in the past, but the presence of this mercenary girl could easily turn everything upside-down if he wasn't careful.

Meanwhile, Prince Dimitri was helping out his fellows Ashe and Mercedes, who had to calibrate their bows before the signal that Sir Jeralt would give them. Despite never having had talent for archery himself, the young prince had been taught how to take care of a bow correctly. Once they were done with this task, Ashe breathed in and exalted heavily before his grip on his weapon strengthened.

"Alright, so all I have to do is help you and Dedue out, right?" The boy asked.

"Yes, this is all. Do not worry, we two will protect you from the enemy's attacks as well, and in the worst caase scenario, Mercedes and Professor Hanneman will be able to heal you up." Responded the blonde prince, grabbing his lance and spinning it around a few times.

"Good. They'll see what we can do!" Exclaimed the freckled teenager.

"And that is the spirit. With our skill, and the professor's genius, we are sure to win!"

* * *

After departing from the meeting with the other House leaders and teachers, Byleth and Claude deliberately took a slow pace as they returned to their own position. Often, they would pause and examine the bushes, rocks and trees they could use to their advantage during the battle. While they were eyeing a small forest that they could hide into, Claude remarked while pointing to the Blue Lions' location.

"Hey, teach', you've seen the fort that the Lions had in their spot? It was a little hidden by the woods, but it seems they have fortifications if need be. Do you think the Black Eagles have one too?"

"Even if they have one, it would not matter much. If they decide to hide in such a small place, then it'll be easy for us to corner them." Responded the new professor.

She was still pondering on the other teams' constitutions as she had seen them, as well as the information she could recall on them thanks to her meeting with Seteth, Manuela and Hanneman the previous day.

On the Black Eagles' side, they had taken Ferdinand, Hubert and Dorothea. None of them apparently had a particular history of combat as far as she knew, but as she could remark, the latter two did not wear physical weapons, indicating use of magic. This was a little problematic, given that only one member of her team could attack at a distance.

"Now, Claude, let's go. My father will soon give the signal, and we need to be in place."

"Yeah, let's. So, can you just repeat your plan again?"

After a slight sigh, the former mercenary nodded and began repeating her planned tactics while looking straight in front of her.

"When the fight begins, I want you and Raphael to get to the forest at the east of the terrain as soon as possible before the Blue Lions get there. If they come, then you two will be able to take advantage of the woods to ambush them. During this time, I will be attracting our opponents' attention while staying out in the open. Meanwhile, Lorenz and Leonie will look out for the Black Eagles' hideout and southern barriers and intervene if that's where the enemy comes around."

"Ah, yes, now that I see the terrain, it's a bit clearer. I do wonder why Dimitri didn't bring Sylvain, Felix or Ingrid. They all have more experience than Mercedes and Ashe, as I've heard."

"They have opted to balance their strengths and weaknesses while giving the less trained members of their House a chance to test their abilities. Plus, both of them are archers, which is not a bad addition in a group."

Nodding in agreement at his teacher's words, Claude looked up to the hill where Jeralt and Link had stationed themselves in order to monitor the battle. He smirked a little while thinking of the strange outsider. A travelling wanderer who just pops out of the blue to help people, coming from a destroyed kingdom?

He will definitively try to learn more about this guy another time.

* * *

Looking up into the sky, Jeralt took notice of the position of the sun and narrowed his eyes from the strain that looking into so much light caused to them. He then glanced at Link and let out a sigh.

"Good, they're in position. We'll be able to give the signal now."

"Oh yeah, but I do have a question…" Spoke the Hylian, putting his hand on his chin in his curiosity. "What is this famous signal?"

"Not far from here, there is a big disk of metal under a thick clothing protection with a mace. You strike it and the sound alerts the three teams that they can begin."

"Oh, a gong! That sounds fun! Can I go hit it?"

Now giving Link an amused look, Jeralt did not find any objection to his request and merely shrugged in response, at which point the outsider happily descended the small top they were currently on. Waiting for a minute for the Hylian to find the darned thing, Jeralt still jerked a bit in surprise when the signal came.

It was not the beautiful, constant sound that would normally resonate through the battlefield like it used to when he last worked at the monastery, but instead a dry and sudden 'Boink'. When Link came back, it was with a stressed expression and wide eyes.

"Hey, you… you might wanna tell them to replace the disk for next time, I'll pay for it…"

"Are you serious? What did you do to it?" Responded the mercenary with a dumbfounded expression.

"I just wanted everyone to hear it, but… I may have struck a bit _too _hard…"

After letting out yet another exasperated sigh, Jeralt contended himself with continuing his given task while Link awkwardly sat down and redirected his attention on the field below.

* * *

"Was that the signal?" Asked Lorenz, looking outside through the bushes' leaves.

"It sounded more like a slaughtered pig's squeal, but I think it was…" Answered Leonie, whose attention was focused on the forest where were hidden the Black Eagles. When Ferdinand exited the bushes that he had been stationed in and began to examine their own, Leonie decided that the time was, indeed, for battle as of now.

"Look, the redhead over there…" Leonie whispered to Lorenz, grabbing her spear. "He seems to be alone… do you think he's scouting for his team?"

"He is Ferdinand von Aegir, and I do not think he is. If he was, then he would not be staying idle at the edge of his House's woods." Retorted the Gloucester, before reflecting further on the situation. "If we did it quickly, I could easily take him out of the competition and assault the Black Eagles' base…"

"What do you mean, 'I could'? I am here too, you know?"

"Please, I am aware of your training in battling, but this a matter to settle between fellow nobles, and involving a commoner would be irresponsible on my part. If I were to fall, then you shall retreat and inform the professor."

On these words, as Leonie found herself utterly aghast at his claims, Lorenz took his weapon and went out of cover in order to go meet his Black Eagle counterpart. The orange-haired girl, for her part, was fuming with anger.

This pretentious, snotty snob of a noble intended to leave her behind? There was no way in hell that she was going to let it slide.

She jumped out of her position, her emotivity attaining a point where she couldn't even realize just how much consequences her and Lorenz' actions were going to bring to them and their class. As the two spear handlers marched on their way to their opponent-to-be's position, Leonie decided that she would humor his request of letting this be a matter between the two of them, if only so she could laugh at him as much as she could in the case of his defeat.

Ferdinand, for his part, had taken a combat stance as he saw the two Golden Deer members approaching him. Lorenz stopped walking when he arrived at a few meters from him and announced, in the most eloquent tone he could muster:

"I, Lorenz Hellman Gloucester, formally challenge you to a duel." The Adestrian noble smiled and nodded at Lorenz before strengthening his grip on his own spear.

"I am Ferdinand von Aegir, and I accept your challenge."

At this, the two gentlemen stayed idle for a second, evaluating each other, before they engaged battle. The wooden sticks that they used as weapons clashed and the two nobles entered a blade lock, each trying to overpower the other.

Leonie, on her part, contented herself with observing, snickering all the while. While they were both under the assumption that they were having a grandiose fight, it was clear to everyone currently observing them that they were amateurs, at the very best. Their movements were slightly sluggish, lacking proper coordination.

After they pushed each other away, Lorenz attempted to strike Ferdinand in the thigh in order to incapacitate him, but the latter managed to roll out of the way. Unfortunately, it only left him vulnerable to a second attack from the heir of the Gloucester.

Just as Lorenz was about to land a devastating blow on the son of Duke Aegir, however, his eyes widened in horror as he spotted a dark ball of magic coming in his way. At this moment, it was already far too late to attempt to dodge it, and as such Lorenz instinctively brought his training spear between him and the oncoming attack in hopes of minimizing its effects.

Unfortunately for the violet-haired boy, the ball of black magic was far stronger than he had realized, and it pushed him back violently before exploding, leaving the heir of the Gloucester winded and with a scorched uniform.

Now, Leonie may not have been an admirer of Lorenz' behavior until now, but she was not going to let a teammate go down without reacting, especially by such a dishonorable tactic. She quickly tensed and jumped between the young noble and the forest, looking out for the next offensive move of their hidden opponent. When Lorenz composed himself once again, he looked to the side and yelled:

"Look out!"

It was too late, however, and Ferdinand von Aegir took advantage of Leonie's split attention to whack his spear to the side of her head, nearly knocking her out on the spot. The Adestrian noble looked over the commoner with a regretful expression before readying for combat again.

"I am sorry it has come to this, but we cannot afford an honorable duel anymore, Gloucester." Announced Ferdinand while Leonie rubbed her wounded cheek, her face being reddened by anger.

"Stop acting as if I wasn't there, you son of a bitch!" Exclaimed the fiery redhead.

Meanwhile, Lorenz had managed to get up, grasping his burned torso with one hand while he grabbed Leonie's shoulder with the other, speaking in a solemn tone.

"No, we have fallen right into a trap! Go back and reunite with the others, I will occupy them." Spoke the skinny young man, letting go of Leonie in favor of his training spear.

"To hell with it! I am not backing down. If we take out that clown, then we'll go tear apart this bastard in the woods." Stated Leonie, staring at her teammate. "And besides, you're the one who should take it easy from now on."

Just as Lorenz was about to protest, though, the duo's attention was grabbed by Ferdinand charging at them once again. This time, though, Leonie was ready and redirected his blow, leaving him vulnerable to Lorenz' own. The Leicesterian noble used the blunt end of his spear to violently poke into Ferdinand's ribcage, which incapacitated him quite effectively.

At this moment, however, the invisible forest attacker had decided that it was the perfect occasion to try to catch them off-guard again. While Leonie managed to get out of the way in time, Lorenz hadn't been so lucky and took the full force of the blast once more, leaving him truly unconscious. As the rules were, it meant that he was considered out of the competition and thus, he couldn't attack nor be attacked again.

"Damn it…" Muttered Leonie, who now had to deal with both this mage and von Aegir, who had come back to his senses and was ready to fight her. This time, she was well and truly alone.

It wasn't going to end well.

* * *

As Claude examined the tree he was considering climbing into, Raphael was busy stretching his arms, legs and torso in order to be in optimal form for the fights he was going to be in. When he turned around to check on his House leader, however, he blinked a few times in confusion when he found himself unable to spot him anywhere, at least until Claude popped out while holding on one of the nearest tree's branches, his head upside-down.

"Alright, the new teach's strategy seems to be quite good. We may actually have a chance, I believe…" Reflected the brunette, bouncing back up to get his bow and arrows ready.

"Yeah, well, it doesn't really matter, now does it?" Asked the much larger blonde man, who was installing his training gauntlets on his fists. "After all, only one House can win this, and we'll have another chance later…"

"This isn't false, I'll admit, though…" A smirk appeared on the tanned brunette as he continued speaking. "It would be nice to begin this year on a blast, don't you think?"

At this, the brawler could only shrug and look over the Blue Lions, who had begun preparing themselves as well. He then looked in the open field, where his own professor had taken place. He still wasn't certain of her own chances, since she was right east to the Black Eagles' own turf. Then again, she _was_ a trained mercenary before, so she would certainly be better than untrained people like the students…

When he looked between the positions of the Black Eagles and his own House, though, Raphael's eyes frowned when he saw Lorenz and Leonie who were right in front of a redhead guy, seemingly ready to fight.

"Hey, Claude?"

"Yeah, Raphael?"

"Were the two others supposed to go forward too, again?"

Now becoming slightly worried, the House leader of the Golden Deer turned his head around and positioned himself to be able to see clearly through the leaves. When he perceived Lorenz' very recognizable hairdo, he brought his hand to his chin while shaking his head, slightly discouraged.

"They were not supposed to, but… seems that they are doing it anyways… Lorenz and his stubbornness…"

"So, are we going to help out or not?" Asked the blonde man again, lifting his questioning stare up to his House leader.

"I don't think it would be wise. We are here to provide support for out teacher, so if we just abandon our posts like that, we'll also condemn her. Besides, they're two on one, so it is a pretty safe fight on their end."

"Ah, okay…" With an uncertain look, Raphael redirected his attention on the Blue Lions, as Dimitri and Dedue had begun advancing to their positions or, more precisely, Byleth's. The prince and his vassal's pace were slow and steady, and the two were actively looking around to catch the sight of anyone who would try to ambush them. With the heavy forest at the west of their position, it was impossible to tell the Black Eagles' whereabouts.

When the leader of the Blue Lions' path seemed to redirect more towards the Adestrian House, Claude emitted a small sigh of relief. He was pretty confident in his abilities, but it wouldn't hurt if he didn't have to measure up to someone as strong and skilled as Dimitri.

Once the prince and his Duscurian servant had approached enough, Byleth readied her sword in order to take them head on. She may not have access to a shield and both of the two Blue Lions may be stronger than herself, but she was backed up by two allies and, most importantly, far more skilled than the two. Her head tilted forward a little as she focused her attention on them.

During this time, while Raphael was observing the situation very closely, ready to jump in so he could even the odds for his professor, whose attention was on the oncoming Kingdom representatives, Claude had been looking over the beginning of Lorenz and Leonie's harsh battle against Ferdinand and Hubert, and needless to say, he was not liking what he was seeing.

Despite what Byleth had told him, Claude could not leave the situation as it was without intervening. If the two spear users were to fall, then the Black Eagles would be able to attack the foes fighting near their territory at full power and with complete immunity. As such, while his bulkier teammate would go help their teacher against Dimitri and Dedue, Claude would go to try to help out his two other team members in time.

Thus, the tanned archer jumped out of his hiding spot and, after informing Raphael of his intentions, went on to assist Leonie, as Lorenz had already been knocked out. Launching one of his fake arrows at Ferdinand's head, he promptly turned the fight back to a somewhat balanced one, two-on-two.

Raphael, meanwhile, had decided to get out of hiding right away. If Lorenz, Leonie and Claude had already ruined the professor's plans, then he figured that he could at least do his best to help out.

The new teacher, for her part, had already begun engaging Dimitri in combat. From the scuffle with Kostas and his men, she had learned to not underestimate the prince, and as such she tried to evade his attacks as much as possible while taking advantage of his openings to strike in particularly painful areas.

* * *

While the three Houses had finally begun engaging each other in combat, the appointed arbiter of the match frowned slightly as his Hylian companion of fortune was resting his chin in the palm on his hand. He was so used to being right in the center of the action that he hadn't yet realized just how boring it was to simply sit back and watch a battle that you have no stakes for. From as far as they were, they could barely hear anything.

"Wow, your kid's students are really getting their asses served to them, aren't they?" Said the Hero of Hyrule, regarding Lorenz and Leonie's poor performance. While their leader had finally come to their rescue, Lorenz had been knocked out cold and, and although Ferdinand was in a pretty bad shape now, so was Leonie, and there was still this mage in the forest that they had to deal with.

At least, Byleth and Raphael, who had begun fighting Dimitri and Dedue, were doing well enough, if being at a standstill could count as that. From where they were, Link could see that the Blue Lions were keeping this grey-haired archer and the blonde girl behind, probably so they can keep their strength. That left two Black Eagles students unaccounted for, without taking Manuela and Hanneman into consideration, who seemed confident enough that they simply stayed in the fort of their territory.

"You could say that, I guess…" Responded the much older Jeralt, who looked over with a little disappointment. Leonie had once been his apprentice, after all, so seeing her fall into an enemy trap was a bit unfortunate.

Link, meanwhile, was rather focused on the efforts of the Blue Lions to defeat what was left of the Golden Deer to oppose them. After a while, Byleth ended up understanding Dimitri's attack patterns a lot more, and thus she was beginning to push him back bit by bit, while the mountain of a man that was Raphael was holding his own against Dedue and his training axe. Although the Duscurian was obviously more skilled in armed combat than his blonde opponent, the latter's sheer size and power managed to even the odds.

When the prince and his vassal started losing ground, though, Link noticed that their blonde teammate, who had been sheepishly staying in the sidelines until then, rushed forward in Dimitri's direction. At first, the Hylian assumed that she wished to give armed assistance, but he was quickly proven wrong.

When she arrived in close enough range from her leader, she lifted her right hand and extended it forward, with a green glow emitting from it. The weird light was then transmitted to Dimitri, who seemed to be revigorated by the move and quickly began to attack Byleth more ferociously. At this moment, Link understood what she had done.

During the moments he had passed in civilization in Fodlan, and even a bit in Dagda and Brigid, he had learned of the two main ways to utilize magic. One was by converting its pure power into complicated spells, like fireballs or thunder, that were capable of tremendous damage in the right hands. Usually used by erudite and other prodigies, it was called 'Reason' magic.

The other form, which was rather called 'Faith', while it could still be weaponized effectively, was way more effective when used as a way to heal someone else. Those who used it were usually fervent believers in some sort of god, or yet they were simply gifted with a great peace of mind.

It made sense, when Link thought of it. After all, the late Mipha, back in Hyrule, was not only very proficient with healing magic, but she was also a devoted believer in Goddess Hylia, and her spells were always of a green or light-yellow color…

Mipha. Link's heart twisted a bit thinking about her as he reached for his left forearm with his right hand, almost by instinct.

'_I haven't heard them at all for a long time_' He thought before Jeralt's rough voice interrupted his reverie.

"Leonie and Ferdinand are down, now. You were right, after all."

Redirecting his attention on the battlefield, Link could indeed see the two redheads' immobile forms on the ground, while Claude was trying to figure out where his hidden foe was, bow readied.

Looking over to the other major fight that was going on, Link saw that, thanks to Mercedes and Ashe's support, Dimitri and Dedue had actually succeeded in making Byleth and Raphael lose ground. With no healer and no one else to attack with them, it was obvious that the former mercenary and the muscled blonde were having a hard time keeping up with their foes.

Now that the battle was getting slightly more interesting, the Hylian remade himself comfortable on the grassy ground and yawned loudly before he continued his observation.

* * *

Hubert was cursing under his breath as he hid as well as he could inside a bush. Every time he would peak through to observe his opponent's whereabouts, von Riegan was always nearby, seemingly closing on him and approaching the forest. The tall, dark-haired boy would have liked to be able to take him head-on, but there was a little problem.

He was almost exhausted.

Not to the point where he couldn't fight anymore, far from that. However, Claude von Riegan was a formidable fighter in his own right, Hubert knew it, and he also was aware that he had spent a lot of energy fixing Ferdinand's mess. As such, he could not afford to fight someone on par with the other two House leaders on his own, especially not in his current state. Lady Edelgard might need him later when fighting the Blue Lions.

Thus, when he caught a glimpse of his mistress and Dorothea approaching in the woods, he sighed slightly from relief before tensing up and getting ready to assault Claude with everything he had. When Lady Edelgard was close enough and had her axe ready, he quickly got up and prepared one of his black magic spells…

Just in time to get the blunt end of a training arrow striking him square in the jaw.

"Ouc- HOW!" Exclaimed the somber servant, rubbing his chin as he benched over in cover.

"What? You though I didn't know where you were, sneaky buddy?" Mocked the heir of House Riegan, before he giggled slightly.

"What you did to my allies, that was pretty foul of you, you know? Now, allow me to return the favor…" the brunette continued, beginning to prepare another arrow to finish Hubert off.

However, in the corner of his vision, he saw a blue glow erupting from behind a tree, and he had just the time to dodge out of instinct before a Thunder spell hit the ground right where he had been standing, mere seconds before.

Seeing as Dorothea's move had failed, Edelgard decided to take the initiative and jumped towards her Golden Deer counterpart, placing her axe in a defensive manner in order to try to block any incoming arrow.

With now three opponents teaming up on him, Claude knew that his situation was far from optimal. Thus, he employed the secret technique that he had developed in times of need, when the odds seemed impossible. A tactic that was passed from generation to generation since himself, that had already made proof of its wonders against the bandits, and that no one else where he came from used often…

He ran away.

No, wait… a 'tactical retreat' would be a more flattering appellation.

* * *

Byleth was fighting with all of her strength, now, parrying blow after blow from Dimitri while she retaliated with her own. She also knew that it meant absolutely nothing as long as her foe was backed up by a competent Faith user like Mercedes, but she had trouble winding the prince back enough to give her a little time to think of a good strategy.

Indeed, without a healer herself, she was beginning to tire up, so her attacks began to decrease in might, and she became both weaker and slower, allowing Dimitri to gain more and more ground with her. At this moment, she truly regretted to not having brought Marianne, no matter how much the latter did not want to fight. 'A burden', she called herself. Ironic, considering the burden right now was her very absence.

Byleth's witty mental banter was quickly interrupted, however, when one of the blonde prince's strikes passed through her defense and hit her in the side of the abdomen, knocking the breath out of her. As she recovered from the attack, she was sent on her back on the ground by a powerful shoulder tackle from Dimitri.

She refused to give up just yet, however, and she ran in the direction of the prince after getting herself up as quickly as possible. However, as he lifted his spear to defend himself, Byleth side-stepped him while striking his right leg with all of her remaining strength, resulting in him losing his balance and falling down.

Using this opportunity, the former mercenary rushed a panicked Mercedes, whose eyes widened in shock as the blue-haired teacher yelled.

"Now, let me demonstrate!"

That was, however, before she was hit with full force sideways by a Thoron attack, derailing her course and sending her crashing down once again.

When she lifted her eyes, she saw that Hanneman had left his stationary post and had come to the help of his class, with his hands crackling in electricity. Turning around, she could see Raphael as well, who was beginning to be at the receiving end of a beatdown from Dedue thanks to Ashe's support, and she got up, more out of stubbornness than anything else.

Mercedes and Hanneman, however, did not move and inch, so Byleth turned around to see Dimitri getting ready to finish their duel. In desperation, she tried a last attack, which was easily parried. The prince then swung his spear at her…

Unfortunately, he had wished to hit her in the side of the torso, but her weakening state had made her bend over at the last moment, which caused his lance to strike her straight in her head, with enough force to snap his wooden weapon outright.

"Professor!" Said a voice that the new teacher was no longer able to recognize as her vision turned to dark.

This was the second last thing she heard before she closed her eyes and fell on the ground. Right before she lost consciousness, she swore that she could hear Sothis' exasperated grunt.

* * *

"_Come on, you have slept enough, now. Wake up._"

As if reacting from the childish voice calling her out, Byleth suddenly woke up in…

… a bed?

With her mind still shrouded in the confusion brought from Dimitri's reckless strike, the former mercenary gave a few glances to check out her surroundings. Eventually, she had recovered her senses enough to realize that she was in Manuela's infirmary, if the green sheets and the medicine were of any indication

Ah, yes, Manuela's own presence may also have given a pretty solid hint.

Continuing her observation, the former mercenary then distinguished the form of her father, resting his back on the doorframe and looking over her with the softest smile that his rugged face could perform, seemingly realizing that she had awoken. Besides him was Dimitri himself, with quite a pronounced frown. When the older man's glare went to the wounded professor, the prince's followed, and his facial features softened considerably once he saw her current state.

Desiring to get out of the bed, Byleth began to remove the sheets covering her, but Manuela stopped her right in her tracks with a 'shh', similar to what she could have used to try to tame a baby.

"Please, professor, stay down for a few moments while I examine you, will you?" Asked the busty nurse as Byleth looked at her with her characteristic emotionless stare.

"I'm fine, I swear…" Responded the annoyed new teacher before she brought a hand to her forehead in reaction to a sudden migraine. Darn, Dimitri must have truly hit her with the force of a Monster Wolf if she was this badly hurt.

While the songstress went on to examine Byleth's wound, Jeralt and Dimitri decided that it would be the right time to approach her current resting place. Once Manuela was done with taking care of the blue-haired woman for now, Jeralt's eyebrows lifted as he spoke.

"Well, you certainly didn't miss her, kid." As the prince took a more stressed expression yet again, Jeralt sighed for what must have been the twentieth time today. "Dimitri here was beginning to get quite worried about you."

At this, the young teacher nodded slowly before giving the Blue Lions' leader a quick glance. The kind of wound like he had given her was fairly common occurrence in her profession. After all, no matter how strong or skilled you are, you will always end up getting surprised by someone, especially if you always engage in battle as often as her and her father.

However, she had always been rather resilient to damage before. Apart from her embarrassing incident with Kostas two days before, she had never sustained any permanent damage from her battles. No matter how deep the cut was, it always ended up vanishing without as much as a scar. Even now, she could feel the migraine brought by her unfortunate meeting with Dimitri's lance dissipating progressively.

"So… who won, in the end?" Asked Byleth, rubbing the bruise that had formed on her head.

"The Blue Lions did." Answered Manuela, not without frustration. "After you and Raphael fell, they set their sights on us. The thing is that your Claude had managed to tire out both of our two other magic users, so we were not exactly at an advantage." At this point, Byleth noticed a bruise on her fellow professor's cheek.

"In any case, with the speed at which your wound has been healing, I will liberate you soon enough." Announced the songstress. "Oh, by the way, Hanneman wished to talk to you once you were able to."

"The Crest researcher? What does he want?" Asked Jeralt, frowning in suspicion.

* * *

Link stretched a little as he was seating on the edge of the monastery's fishing pond, contemplating the cute little aquatic creatures swimming around, using water as birds used air, granting them such a freedom of movement. Seeing how many there were in the little space they had, he wondered how much at a time he could blow up.

Once he bored himself with this idea, however, he reflected a bit back on the mock battle. While he didn't regret going there, he definitively didn't find it nearly as entertaining as he had hoped. It may be because he would have rather been the one fighting off plenty of other people.

His mind then wandered around the cafeteria as he could smell a delicious odor of roasted meat emanating from there. He had yet to taste the food of the Academy, and he was absolutely starving. Maybe he should check out if they accepted help in the kitchens? He wasn't arrogant about it, but Link was pretty sure to be the best darn cook in the entirety of Hyrule!

Then, incapable of focusing his thoughts on a single matter, he looked over at his left, where there was a narrow access to the local marketplace. He didn't have any luck back at Remire's, but he was at a prestigious military school, so he should at least find something decent, right? Besides, after losing his stock at the blacksmith the other day, he figured that he may as well look what was available, even if it wasn't new.

Thus, he went on his way to it, soon passing in front of the front gate of the entire faculty. He waved and nodded politely at the guard stationed at the entrance, before the latter saluted Link and exclaimed with enthusiasm:

"Greetings, sir! Nothing to report!"

Genuinely surprised by the sheer concentration of joviality in the response, Link stopped in his way for a few seconds before the guard started talking again.

"Although, I guess your presence here would be something worthy of report! However, I remembered seeing you coming yesterday with Sir Jeralt and Alois, so you are clear, mister."

Normally, this would be the point where Link half-heartedly nodded and walked away, but for some reason the soldier's silly attitude and oversized helmet encouraged him to stay and listen to what he had to say.

"Yeah, I guess. I'm here for some time, so I think you may want to report that too, buddy." Inquired the Hylian with an amused smile.

"I sure will, Link sir! By the way, you can call me Gatekeeper."

"Alright, then. See you later, Gatekeeper."

After another salute from the guard, Link left to meet the merchants with a slightly better mood, and what he saw there surprised him quite a bit.

The people who operated here clearly knew what they were doing, with stands that did their best to showcase just what they had in store. After purchasing a few weapons from the armorer, Link had almost decided to stop spending money from today. After all, he had promised Jeralt to pay for the gong he had practically destroyed with his over-enthusiasm, and he suspected that this Seteth guy would be more than happy to go along with it.

Right before he turned over to return to the pond, however, he caught the sight of a girl he hadn't noticed until now. It was weird, he thought, because her bright pink hair made her stand out quite a bit in the crowd. Curious, he approached her in order to see what she had to sell away, but even before he made an attempt to make his presence known to her, she turned around and waved at him.

"Aye-aye, customer! How can I be of service for you?" Asked the woman, who then tilted her head forward with an expecting expression.

"Oh, just wanted to see what you had. And call me Link, for the record."

"Oh, right, and I'm Anna. And I just so happen to have plenty of different merchandise, brought to you from even the deepest parts of Fodlan, and even beyond!" Exclaimed the quite excited merchant, gesturing to Link to come with her to a recluse point of the place. For a second, he thought that he may have just fallen into a trap, in which he would be mugged by shady people…

But, really, he didn't care. If he could deal with murderous banana sellers in Hyrule, then he could handle pretty much anything, now.

There, she gestured a couple of guys to lift some kind of cloth to reveal her stand. It was mostly filled with jewelry and refined products and furniture, or, as Link preferred to call this sort of things: 'useless junk'. However, there were also brute materials and rare weapons that were quite interesting.

Making a few purchases out of politeness, Link brought up his Slate in order to pay, which caused Anna and her men's eyes to grow wide. Before he could regret showing it to her, her mouth grew into a mischievous grin.

"Hey, tell me sir… this thing you have there, how much have you paid for it?"

"Nothing. It was a gift from a friend. I couldn't replace it if I got rid of it either." Responded Link, cutting off the girl's attempts at negotiation. Her face grew into a pout for a few seconds before she attempted again.

"Well then, do you have something else in there that you think could interest me? I'm always buying if you want something gone."

Gosh, Link thought. She was pretty much Fodlan's Beedle, as far as he was concerned. Only a girl, and prettier.

In order to humor her request, Link searched through the various items he had accumulated in his amazing piece of Sheika technology and ultimately settled on selling her a few potions so she would leave him alone. After all, they were made of monster parts and bugs, which were rather plentiful in this continent.

"Oh, amazing! It looks homemade, did you do these yourself?" Asked the pink-haired girl with mesmerized eyes.

"Yeah, I did. Quite simple if you know how to do it."

"Hmm, and what would you ask of me if I asked you to teach me the recipes?" Asked Anna, bringing a finger to her chin in a seductive pose. Her mind, however, was all focused on the money she could get from an eventual accord.

"Uh, I guess a discount for me? I could also sell you minerals, herbs and other stuff if you accept."

At this, Anna's eyebrows narrowed as she evaluated Link's offer. Sure, the possibility of getting another source of income was tempting, but at the price of a _discount_? This was hard to decide. Examining the Hylian for another time, though, she noticed his pointy eyes and guessed that he could provide her with unique skills from some remote kingdom, expanding her service arsenal.

"Alright, it's a deal! Ten percent off for you from now on, what do you think?" At this, Link only shrugged and extended his hand forward in order to perform a handshake, which Anna replicated eagerly.

"Sure."

* * *

"You wanted to see me?"

Byleth was standing in the doorframe of Hanneman's office, staring at the aging man with her characteristic blank stare. After calling out to him, she observed as the researcher, who had previously been completely absorbed with his paperwork, jumped out of his seat, readjusted his monocle, and arranged his elegant, brown suit before walking over to the former mercenary.

"Yes, indeed I did, professor. You have my gratitude for accepting so quickly! I wanted to have a talk with you." At this, Byleth remained stationary, prompting the man to elaborate. "It is about your… lineage, in a way. Have you ever been tested to see if you were bearing a Crest, by any chance?"

The young teacher couldn't help but frown slightly at the question.

"No, why? I am a commoner, right?"

"You may be, but social status does not necessarily dictate whether you have a Crest or not. But you knew all of this, I am sure…"

After a small laughter, Hanneman looked over to Byleth, who, apart from a faint shake of her head, did not perform any movement.

"Hold on, professor. What exactly do you know of Crests?"

At this, the blue-haired woman slightly shrugged before speaking.

"Not much, I'll admit. I know that it is a big deal in the nobility, but apart from that…"

"I see." Stated the Crest specialist before he cleared his throat again. "Crests, in essence, are the mark of a holy power in an individual. You know that if you press your hand on a glass, you will leave a handprint unique to you, right?"

"Yes."

"Crests are the same thing. It is a print. Now, you were right, they are highly valued in nobility, for various reasons. One reason, of course, is that they allow their bearer to wield the Hero's Relics. As for you, you could very well have one. Let's suppose that, a few generations ago, an esteemed member of a noble house gave birth to a bastard child, who was then sent away. Even if this child was born Crestless, he could have left a descendance who all had a small chance of bearing their noble ancestor's Crest."

"You sure like to say 'Crest' a lot." Replied Byleth, with a faint smile on her face.

"As far as I know, there isn't a synonym for them." Retorted a slightly offended Hanneman.

"So, if I understand well, you want to see if I have a Crest, that I could have inherited from hundred of years ago?" Questioned the younger teacher, tilting her head to the side.

"Yes, but it is not only out of curiosity. You see, when you were attacked by Dimitri this afternoon, I believe that I saw the faint glow characteristic of a Crest activating. I could have been mistaken, but the fact that you recovered so quickly from such a vicious hit deepened my suspicions."

"Okay, so even if I _do_ have a Crest, how do we know for sure?"

Just by the way the older man's face lightened up, Byleth knew that he had been waiting for her to ask this question.

"Ah, well, this will be done easily thanks to one of my finest inventions, the Holographic Crest Detector! Could you please take a look beneath you, professor?"

Following Hanneman's command, Byleth glanced down and, besides a purple circle, there wasn't much to talk about.

"When I take a blood sample from anyone and put it in a little device… right there…" Then, pointing at a small bowl-like construct, he continued. "The system will project a high-quality image of the Crest present in it. If I did the test right now, then it would show the Crest of Indech, of which I am a bearer, but would you kindly do so as well?"

Seeing no reason to refuse, Byleth nodded and let Hanneman do his magic. After having taken a drop of her blood and inserted in his detector, the purple circle she had seen previously began to glow. The researcher, for his part, exclaimed while smiling widely:

"Oh, so I was right, after all! Now, let's see what we have here…"

Then, just as the aged teacher had claimed it would do, the device sent into the office a holographic picture of a Crest. Of course, Byleth did not know what to make of it, but she was quite surprised to turn to Hanneman and realizing that he was actually taken aback by the results of the test.

"Is something wrong?" Asked the blue-haired woman, looking back to the Crest that was supposed to be hers.

"I… It is fascinating. To think that there are still Crests that I did not even know exist!"

"Pardon me?"

"Oh, sorry. You see, there are fifteen Crests that are well-known, among the populace, being those of the Ten Elites, the Four Saints, and Seiros herself. Obviously, however, there are far more, like the mysterious one that your student Marianne bears, or the Crest of Ernest, worn by this merchant who comes regularly, but this one… I do not recall having seen it anywhere else before!"

"So, what does it imply?" Inquired Byleth, who was beginning to get slightly interested in all of these magical shenanigans.

"It implies that there may be yet another holy bloodline that has been forgotten by history… if you agree to it, professor, I would greatly appreciate to perform further experiments on your Crest. At the same time, we could discover its effects!"

Before answering, Byleth looked over to the image that was still levitating in the middle of the office. For some reason, there was a certain feeling of warmth that engulfed her when she saw it, as if it was a sort of complementary of her in a way. However, on the other hand, there was a sensation of eeriness that crept up on her at the same time. In a bizarre way, it felt as if this uneasiness was not part of her, but of some kind of… other self?

In any case, to know more about this emblem might help her expand her set of skills if she was lucky, on top of learning more of her own identity.

Hey, Emblem, that could be a good synonym for Crest.

"Yes, you may."

* * *

Later that day, once the bells announcing the end of classes for the day – or the few there were, in today's case –, most of the students made their way to the dining hall as quickly as possible so they would not be caught in the extensively long line of waiting they would otherwise have to follow in order to access their food. Of course, no matter how fast everyone was, there were always an unlucky few who ended up last.

Around the place were placed the various groups of friends among the three Houses, with very little mixing, if any at all. Most of the students who had taken part in the mock battle had bandages stuck on them due to the wounds they had sustained this afternoon, but they were otherwise fine.

One of the groups was the trio of Ingrid, Sylvain and Felix who were speaking with Annette and Mercedes about the latter's exploits of the day.

"Wow, in a way, you could say that Dimitri owes his victory to you, Mercie. That's wonderful!" Exclaimed the excitable orange-haired girl, nearly knocking over her glass of water in the process.

"Hmph." This was all that Felix would bring to the conversation, focused on his own plate. Meanwhile, Sylvain himself looked pretty down, not even paying attention to his friend' words, or lack thereof.

"Hey, what's the matter with you two party poopers?" Asked the clumsy Annette with an offended tone. "We won!"

"_They_ won." Clarified Felix, making his point very clear to everyone present – except for his childhood friend Sylvain, who didn't bother to listen.

"Come on, Felix, don't be like that. You still have a year to prove your worth." Jokingly said Ingrid, further causing the prideful swordsman to clam up. Seeing her friend's reaction, a look of slight regret passed over the lancer's face as she turned to Sylvain.

"And what is _your_ excuse?" Asked Annette to the Casanova, which made Felix show a rarely seen humoristic side of him.

"I am certain that it is because we are stuck with the old man as a teacher, instead of the two other women." Hypothesized the heir of the Fraldarius, taking a bite of the roasted meat as his best friend shot him a half-annoyed, half-amused glare.

"Just don't change Houses just because of that, it's not like you absolutely need to make a fool out of yourself with a professor…" Warned Ingrid.

"Yeah, I get it. Don't worry, Ingrid." Replied the Gautier, seemingly getting out of his somber mood.

* * *

Much later that evening, as all of the students were to enter their dorms, as per the rules imposed by the nightly curfew. At this hour, only a few of the teenagers were still out, and most of these cases had been because of a discussion with a member of the staff which took them longer than they realized.

Of course, for Edelgard, this hour was perfect to organize a little meeting with her sinister servant. So far, everything was going according to their plan. Fortunately, the back of the stables wasn't as heavily guarded as the rest of the monastery, and as such they could maybe enjoy some privacy. That, they couldn't be sure until Hubert would finish his little reconnaissance round.

When a shadowy figure approached her, Edelgard tensed up for a second, until she realized just who it was.

"The area is clear, Lady Edelgard." Confirmed the young man, bowing to his mistress.

"Good, now we can talk of some… pressing matters." Uttered the future empress of Adestria with no little stress in her voice. She rubbed her forehead softly as she continued speaking. "Have you managed to gather any kind of information on the new professor or the outsider?"

"I have found a few interesting pieces of intelligence on Byleth, but I am afraid that this blonde man remains mostly a mystery. Apparently, this woman has been raised by her father among his group of mercenaries after Sir Jeralt disappeared. She does have a trackable history, from the employers who bought their services. Among them are Rodrigue Fraldarius, of the Kingdom, and Count Gloucester, of the Alliance. The soldiers talk of them as the 'Blade Breaker' and the 'Ashen Demon'."

After this lengthy description of everything he knew from Byleth, Hubert remained in silence for a moment, letting his mistress assimilate the information and awaiting her instructions. After a few seconds, Edelgard nodded slowly and crossed her arms as she decided on her next course of action.

"In this case, then we can safely assume that the new professor is not a fake. No amount of trickery of illusion could reproduce that much skill. She might be useful to us, in the long run. It is a shame that she teaches the Golden Deer."

"And what do we do for Link?" Inquired the dark-haired young man, his eyes betraying worry for his leader.

"Continue your search. A man cannot spend at least a year or two as he claims and not leave a single trace in Fodlan. At least _someone_ from the church or nobility must have heard of him. Try to see also the records of Brigid and Dagda, since he says that he passed through there."

"I see what you are trying to do, Lady Edelgard, but even if it turned out that he truly existed… he has just now reappeared, and joins the monastery's numbers just as you begin to serve as a student? These are all the signs of an infiltration, and I think we should instead try to eliminate him."

"No." Pressed the red-caped woman. "If he is one of them, then his disappearance would be considered a provocation, and that would bring us much more trouble than we can handle. If he is not, then he can potentially help out cause. Besides, we do not know what he is capable of. Foreign technology is not something to scoff at. Now, let's go to our rooms, we need to be in our best condition for our training tomorrow."

"As you wish, Lady Edelgard."

* * *

**Welp. Yet another chapter done, I hope you liked it!**

**Now, to explain a few things. I have decided to make Byleth lose the mock battle in order to avoid having her winning every scuffle she gets in. Yes, she is a great tactician, but at the end of the day, she was fighting against other genuinely talented leaders in their own right while leading what was at best a bunch of misfits. At the same time, the Black Eagles had the advantage of the terrain while the Blue Lions were better organized, and they were actually cooperative with each other.**

**As for poaching students: yes, it will be a thing. Certain of the characters will not end up in the same class they debuted in.**

**Also, yes, the Gatekeeper will continue making appearances, and not only as running gags.**

**For next chapter, a first day of official classes for the Three Houses! The Black Eagles get to train with Jeritza, the Blue Lions get a little taste of typical classroom lecture with Hanneman while Byleth has some things to set straight regarding the previous day's disaster. There will also be something with Link, but I won't spoil that.**

**Also, shoutout to Sol D. Mars for pointing out a mistake, regarding Hanneman's crest. It's been fixed, thank you man!**

**Second edit: Forgot the horizontal lines. I now realize that this chapter must have been a pain to read, and I'm quite sorry.**

**Finally, I appreciate it immensely when you readers leave your thoughts, it allows me to make sure that my writing stays entertaining and of quality! Do you think I made the characters justice? Was there a major flaw or inconsistency you spotted? Don't hesitate to give feedback!**


	5. Ch 5 - First day of class

Harpstrings Moon

Foddlan year 1880

In the Officers' Academy, there were few people who would wander around before the school hours. Most of the students, usually, would delay the beginning of their day as much as possible in order to gain a handful of bonus sleep, and even the staff would rather spend their early morning in the tranquility of their room or class, dealing with annoying paperwork or planning the lectures of the day.

There were exceptions, of course. Jeritza, for example, could always be found near the training grounds, sharpening his skills, while the calming ambient noise of the marketplace filled the near-empty gate hall. Some peculiarly diligent fellows, like Seteth and the Gatekeeper, would be fulfilling their duty long before the sunset.

And then, there was Cyril.

The little boy was currently busy bringing the horses and pegasus' hay to the stables, so they could be fed later by those who happened to be assigned to such a duty. To this end, he was employing a rather sizable handcart which, due to his small size, would slightly lean backwards.

After succeeding in getting yet another delivery at its destination, the young, tanned everyman attended at his damaged and hay-infested shirt, which had been irritating him since half an hour already. When he was about to go back to work, however, he began to let his eyes wander on his surroundings with a mixture of awe and serenity.

Yes, all the labor may be hard, but he was happy living in Garreg Mach, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

Right before he was going to grab the cart and go back to his duty, though, Cyril caught the rather bizarre sight of a human silhouette on top of the wooden roof of the stables. At first glance, it was difficult to identify the figure, but its blond hair could clearly be seen and its overall shape suggested a man.

"Hey, Sir! Could you get down, please?"

Reacting to the boy calling him out, the mysterious man turned his head around and seemingly examined just who had spoken. Without hesitation, the blonde jumped off his elevated platform and landed right in front of Cyril and immediately proceeded to look down on the tanned boy.

Now that the stranger was up close, the little laborer was able to get a better view of his quite unique features. First of all, he was quite tall, maybe even on the level of height of Professor Hanneman, and he was quite well-built, even if slender. His hair was moderately long and mostly untamed, with a small braid here and there, placed at random points on his head, while he had a sharp, fully faced beard. As for his clothes, he was wearing dark-colored pants with a red, sleeveless shirt with green inscriptions written on it.

"Hey, little fellow. I didn't quite catch what you told me when I was up there, mind repeating it?" Said the blonde with a kind smile.

"Okay, well, I was just asking you to get down, so that's alright. I'm going back to work, now, so please don't climb on the stables again, Sir." Responded the young man before getting a hand on his wooden cart.

"Ha! The person who will make me stop climbing is not yet born, kid, but I'll oblige for today if it can make you happy…" Exclaimed the man with a good-hearted laughter before he took notice of Cyril's whereabouts. "Hey, are you doing this all by yourself?"

"Yes, I am. Now, I have work to do." Retorted the everyman with annoyance.

"This has got to be heavy…" Then, after watching the boy walk a few meters away from him, he shrugged and caught up to the boy in an instant. "I'll help you with that."

"You really don't have to, Sir. Don't you have a duty of your own?" Asked Cyril, looking over this strange individual.

"Oh, no! For now, I'm just passing time here, doing pretty much nothing until I find something more constructive to do. Thus, I'm bored as hell, and the weapon handling classes don't start before an hour or two."

"Okay, then. You can help if you want." Responded the boy with a shrug before continuing his work.

Thus, for an hour, man and boy continued the latter's duty in silence, and once they were done with the hay delivering, they began doing some cleaning up of the Academy's grounds. At this moment, the stranger decided to reinitiate conversation.

"Hey, I was wondering, what is your name?"

"Cyril."

"Huh. Mine's Link."

"Alright."

…

"You look a lot like the Almyran merchants. Are you Almyran?"

"Yes, I am, but I don't remember much from there. I've mostly lived in here."

"Working at the monastery? Are your parents employees as well?"

"They're dead." At this, the blonde outsider's face sombered slightly by pity for the boy in front of him. "Lady Rhea made me a place here, and that is all I could have ever asked for."

Nodding slightly, Link then looked up and saw the position of the sun. His eyes widened slightly as he looked in the direction of the training grounds.

"Well, Cyril, it has been nice meeting you. We'll speak more next time, okay?"

At this, the young Almyran rolled his eyes and went back to his work. Then, the morning bell rang, announcing the beginning of the classes.

* * *

In the classroom of the Blue Lions, the day had begun solemnly with Hanneman exposing his plans for the school year.

"… It is important that you know that while I will help you optimize your skills in field that you already are talented in, I will insist that you develop a more diverse set of abilities. Thus, I will let you choose just what are the subject matters that you want to study in this year."

Meanwhile, as most of the class was dutifully listening to their teacher, Sylvain and Felix merely faked interest, just so they wouldn't be pestered after for not paying attention. The redhead looked to the side and whispered to his friend.

"Wow… he's so boring on top of it all… at least, we'll have the weapon lessons."

"I suppose so." Responded Felix.

"Well, at least from back here, I've got a nice view on our group's ladies, am I right?"

"…" At this moment, the heir of the Fraldarius decided that listening to his old teacher was becoming preferable to having to hear his friend's idiocies. As such, he turned his head forward and ignored any further word uttered by Sylvain.

During this time, Hanneman was listing the different courses and specializations that the Academy endorsed, being the handling of swords, lances, axes, and bows, melee combat, Reason and Faith magic mastery, authoritative skills, heavy armor, cavalry and flying. Each student would have to pick at least two, with the possibility to try out more as the year progresses.

Of course, the extremely zealous Annette immediately lifted her hand.

"Yes, did you have something to ask?"

"Yeah, uhm… do you know if you will give supplementary classes after the regular hours?"

"Oh, yes, of course I will reserve time for you outside of class if you feel that you need it, Annette. However, I do need to keep some for my own projects, so I may not always be able to." Responded the Crest specialist.

At this, the orange-haired girl nodded comprehensively and looked over to the side, where she saw Mercedes, looking quite distraught. Not wanting her classmate to stay in this state, Annette leaned to the side and asked her, as Hanneman was speaking to her House leader:

"Hey, Mercie. Is there something wrong?"

"Oh… no, I do not think so…" Answered the elder member of the group. Not satisfied, though, the clumsy mage decided that she wouldn't let the matter go so easily.

"Come on, something is clearly on your mind… what is it?"

"I… Have you seen the weapon handling teacher?"

"Jeritza? Yeah, I did. Why?"

"He… he reminds me of someone, that is all."

"Oh, alright, then."

While the two girls were busy chatting, the rest of the classroom had begun choosing their academic objectives, at least for the time being, with Dimitri going first.

"I will personally take Lance and Authority for now. As the future king, I need to learn much about leadership." To this, however, Felix frowned and scoffed.

"Oh, right, the Boar Prince is taking leadership courses. Now, we're all saved."

The rest of the class, used to the Fraldarius' antagonism to their prince, contented themselves with shrugging this off and continuing with their own choices while their professor scolded the recluse young man for his disrespect toward a fellow student.

Thus, over the next fifteen minutes, the rest of the students had chosen their first objectives, and with the exception of Sylvain's inattention or Felix' outbursts, no particular incident perturbed the class much.

* * *

While the Blue Lions were having a monotone class for the morning, the atmosphere at the Golden Deer's room was much, _much_ heavier. While Raphael, Hilda, Lysithea and Marianne were acting well enough like their usual selves, the rest of the group were much more silent than usual, with Ignatz being even more nervous than usual, even if it was on the others' behalf.

At the front of the class was seated Lorenz. While he kept his composure, it was undeniable that he was not feeling as confident as usual. His controlled, but heavy breathing and nervous tapping of his fingers on his desk were good witnesses of that. Furthermore, instead of trying to up-noble everyone else in the group like he normally would, he mostly kept to himself and even avoided eye contact with everyone else.

Leonie, for her part, was evidently not in a much better mood. Rubbing the arm that had been wounded by Hubert and Ferdinand's attacks the day before, she was using a dagger to carve figures in the wood of her desk. While she wouldn't normally be the kind of girl to perform such revolting acts of vandalism – or at least, a certain bureaucrat would tell you that it was –, she needed to vent her frustration on something, and she didn't have anyone to fight right now.

Even Claude, the eternal jokester and trickster, was far more serious looking. Instead of angry or ashamed, though, he merely seemed pensive.

When Byleth entered the class, no one dared to speak up first. When she began to, the attention of everyone was immediately turned on her.

"Well? Can someone tell me what today's battle was?"

In the absence of a response from those concerned, the young Lysithea got impatient and lifted her hand before answering.

"A disaster, that's what it was."

"Exactly, thank you, Lysithea."

With a heavy sigh from Lorenz being the only noise filling the place after that exchange, Byleth went on with her class.

"Now, can each of you explain to me why? I do not want names, we'll do that later."

Now, it was Claude's turn to speak as he rubbed his chin.

"I would say a total lack of cohesion to the strategy. Some of us stuck to the plan, others did otherwise, but almost no one really worked together yesterday."

"And that is true. I had a plan that would have worked well in our favor if we had followed it, but even it was not perfect." Responded the new teacher. "With the Black Eagles' strategy, we would have had to fight the Blue Lions while under their fire. However, there is one another extremely important reason why we lost."

Following that was further silence, upon which Byleth elaborated.

"Before that, however, I will tell you something: it wouldn't have mattered if we won or lost this mock battle. There were no stakes, and no reward for the winners. Plus, if you have to lose, now is the perfect time for it. No one wins every time. Do you think I won every fight during my time as a mercenary?"

Silence imposed itself, once again, with everyone's eyes focused on her.

"I have several scars that will stick with me until the day I die, dealt by enemies who wanted to kill. If you learn from yesterday, then you will avoid receiving such injuries. Now, can someone tell me the most important reason we failed yesterday?"

At everyone's surprise, it was Lorenz who spoke up first.

"It was because we did not know how everyone else would act. Some of us performed actions because they assumed things about others, and I have myself been guilty of such a thing. Yes, cooperation was terrible, but it was impossible to succeed without proper knowledge of our classmates."

Now, the silence was from stupor rather than plain shame, and even Claude nodded in agreement. For as much as the two bickered, they did share some opinions.

"To add on what Lorenz here said…" Said the tanned leader. "To know each other better would have helped us to comprehend everyone's fighting styles. That would have been great to better decide what role we would fulfill."

"Yes, thank you, you two." Said Byleth, with a small smile on her face before the latter vanished, letting place to a more serious expression.

"I have been hired to make you the best combatants that Fodlan would have to offer, and that is what I intend to do. Despite what I have said earlier, the results of yesterday's battle revealed that even the best of you are quite naïve when it comes to fighting, and that you can easily fall for enemy traps. As such, I have decided of a moonly routine from now on.

During the first week of each Moon, you will all decide on what you will be learning with me in private tutoring sessions. During these, the ones who are not busy studying will be assigned to chores or will be free to do what they want. Then, the first weekend will be free time for you all.

After that, however, we will spend every other weekend of each Moon out of the monastery, fulfilling requests all around Fodlan, be it fighting monsters, bandits, or anything else. This way, you will be putting your theoretical knowledge to practice, and you will be given the opportunity to grow as an appropriate squad. I have already the permission from Seteth to put you all into practice battles with the Knights of Seiros before our assignment at the end of this Moon."

At this, the reactions of the group were rather diverse.

Claude and Lorenz at the front, as well as Leonie, nodded as Byleth explained her plans, rather content to get such a zealous teacher. As for the rest…

Raphael was mostly indifferent, but he was glad that his professor had made no mention of forced magic tutelage. Lysithea had the same reaction, but with physical activity.

Hilda, for her part, began as exhalted to learn that she would get so much free time, until she heard that most of her weekends would be spent fighting off some outlaws everywhere, without mentioning the chores.

Ignatz and Marianne, however, were mortified. The forced fighting was something to be expected in this kind of establishment, but to this extent?

One thing was clear for everyone in the Golden Deer: this was not going to be your typical school year.

However, none of them could imagine just how much this statement would be true.

* * *

At the training grounds, the Black Eagles began to get themselves installed for the morning by gathering their favorite type of weapon in the pile of wooden models. While most of them were unenthusiastic at best, The young Petra took a great breadth of fresh air while the little ball of pure blue energy known as Caspar was stretching out before he did a few jumps in his excitement.

Seeing that his fellows didn't share his utter joy of finally getting out of the restrictive classroom, he frowned a little, but it didn't prevent him from preparing to perform a few practice swings with his axe.

On one end of the area was Jeritza, who had been given the group by Manuela for the time being. Busy with distributing the training weapons to the students, he had been approached by Edelgard and Hubert, who had insisted on being the first members of the class to get personal lessons from him. Of course, Ferdinand had complained, but the issue was not important enough that he insisted too much.

Meanwhile, scattered around the sand-covered grounds were the rest of the Black Eagles who were focused on whatever they thought important to do. Caspar had found a dummy to bash on, Dorothea and Ferdinand were practicing their magic and lance techniques respectively, Petra had preferred to begin the training session with stretches and, of course, Linhardt and Bernadetta were practically immobile, way too busy with napping or cowering.

In the other end of the place was sitting Link, who was content with lazily observing the students training with a good bit of amusement. Seeing these youngsters strive to hone their abilities… it wasn't exactly exciting, per say, but it was heartwarming, in a weird way.

Looking at his surroundings, Link ended up finding the few documents that Jeritza needed to manage the class. The Hylian guessed that even learning how to swing a sword around had to be organized in a place like this.

Of course, with his curiosity taking over as usual, he reached out for the paperwork nearby and began to examine it. He wasn't certain that the establishment would like him reading through their official stuff, but the weapon instructor had not made the impression of a particularly uptight guy, unlike a certain green-haired fellow.

The first thing he saw was the list of the various courses that were offered by the academy, with those that Jeritza could provide being surrounded in red. Since this particular matter bored Link, he almost immediately passed to the list of the eight main students. His eyes narrowed as he made an effort to go through the names.

Edelgard von Hresvelg , the red-caped House leader…

Hubert von Vestra…

Ferdinand von Aegir…

Caspar von Bergliez…

Linhardt von Hevring… Wow, folks in Fodlan really liked needlessly complicated names…

Petra Macneary, this one sounded kind of familiar…

Dorothea Arnault, and finally…

…

Bernadetta von Varley?!

Link's visage flinched back in genuine surprise when he managed to decipher the last name before he lifted his eyes to look after the students. When he finally found the mauve-haired girl, the latter noticed that the Hylian was staring at her and shrieked slightly.

Her horror only grew when the bearded blonde stood up and began to walk towards her. With the way the sun and the tall man were placed, the morning light threw a menacing shadow over the outsider's eyes, which did not help the troubled girl to calm down _at all_. Even hiding behind a pillar didn't do any good since he simply went right around it. Once he was close, Bernadetta got on her knees and closed her eyes.

"Oh, no, Please! I don't know what you want to do with me, but at least make it quick!"

While the rest of the class' attention had been attracted by the frail girl's behavior, Link contended himself with standing in front of her for a few seconds, before a slight chuckle shook his entire body. Once he was finished, he remained immobile for a moment, further prolonging the utterly bizarre scene before he went on one knee so he could be at Bernadetta's level. He then put a hand on her shoulder, which made everyone else in the area, save for Jeritza and Hubert, hold their breath, and he spoke softly with a sad smile.

"You've not changed one bit, kid."

After these words, either from the stranger's kind tone or sheer terror, the young woman's eyes opened slowly and began to observe him.

"You don't remember me? Link! The weird outsider?"

To everyone's complete bafflement, the girl's facial features quickly softened as she got a better view of the man who was speaking to her. After a while, her respirations even started to slow down.

"… L-Link?"

* * *

Ethereal Moon

Fodlan year 1877

The sun was still shining bright in the early afternoon of the western part of the Varley territory, but it didn't help much to warm the chilling temperature of the winter. As such, Jonas von Varley was quite eager to finally arrive at his destination. Accompanied by his trusted bodyguard, he ordered his horse to accelerate his pace as the duo traversed the desert road. While he was still outside, he decided to at least take a good look at the superb scenery that was offered to him.

The snow-covered road which the noble and his companion were traveling on traversed a small valley which traversed by the sides of the mountains of Oghma, which offered a splendid white glow to anyone there to witness it. Further down the trail, there was a thick forest which the two cavaliers would have to go through.

"Sir, are you sure about this? It is still not so late in the day and there could be bandits in those woods. We could make a detour and stop by a village if the cold inconveniences you this much." Inquired the knight, reasonably unnerved.

At this, Jonas took a few seconds to think. It was true that there was a risk. However, he did not want to arrive quickly to his destination merely to evade the temperature. Indeed, knowing his brother, the mansion was probably not even properly warmed. No, he wanted to see his little niece as soon as possible.

"I understand your concerns, my friend, but I am willing to take that chance. Let's pass through as fast as we can!" Exclaimed the overweight noble with a warm smile.

"As you wish, Sir."

Thus, the two men continued on their intended path, leading them to enter the menacing woods only a quarter of an hour later. Once they went past the edge of the forest, the knight shuddered at the sudden drop in lighting, which was caused by the snow stuck in the trees' branches that blocked any sunlight.

Keeping an eye out for any possible ambush, the duo advanced in a moderately quick pace. When the noble's weight began to tire his mount, however, they found themselves forced to slow down. Even with this inconvenience, however, the two ended up approaching the open field at the other side of the woods in a relatively short amount of time, causing Jonas to joyously exclaim:

"You see, my friend? You didn't need to worry all th-"

As if fate had been tempted by his words, however, a loud screech immediately traveled throughout the entire forest as the two men looked to the side with horror.

Indeed, a Giant Wolf had appeared to their left, growling with a savage expression as it slowly walked in front of the two cavaliers, terrifying their horses in the process. The knight wished that he could distract the monster so his master could escape unscathed, but the wolf had placed itself right between them and their exit.

Still, he was not about to leave his master and friend to die right before his holiday reunion. As such, he demounted and raised his hands, the latter glowing with a bright, blue light.

"Step back, Sir Varley! I will fight off this thing."

As the noble slowly backed off with a mixture of fright and worry on his visage, his bodyguard took an extremely nervous step toward the beast, who was now showing its teeth. He gulped a little as he prepared for battle. He may have not been at the top of his class in his time at Garreg Mach, but he was still a proud graduate of the Black Eagles.

Even with his best intentions, however, he found himself blindsided when the beast suddenly plunged forward and tackled him to the ground, forcing the poor man to raise his arms and keep the thing's jaw from biting his face off.

After realizing that its tactic wasn't effective, the monster moved its oversized snout to the side in order to destabilize its smaller opponent. After making a few rolls as an aftermath, the knight was laying on his stomach and trying to get up, defenseless against the beast lunging at him.

That was, fortunately, until a pillar of light suddenly erupted from the ground beneath the monster, causing it to shriek as it took a few steps forward. Taken aback by this event, the knight looked back at his master, who had just performed an Aura attack in order to save him. Not wasting any time, he placed his hands as a cup and threw a mighty Thoron attack directly at the thing's head, hoping to cause as much damage as possible.

To the two men's horror, however, when the dust settled, the Giant Wolf was merely growling with even more ferocity. They had managed to burn some of its fur off, but the skin under it was still perfectly intact.

"Sir, it's useless! This thing has absorbed magic to become this big; we are not powerful enough to damage it with magical attacks!" After these words, the bodyguard withdrew the sword from its sheathe attached to his hip and prepared himself to confront the thing directly.

Suddenly, before either the men or the beast could move, a whistling sound came from the side of the road toward the monster, and when it reached it, a powerful explosion threw the wolf to the side, taking both Jonas and his friend by surprise. At this moment, a voice yelled out of nowhere:

"Look out, people!"

At this point, the two cavaliers were met with the sight of a bearded blonde man, who was wearing warm-looking white pants and a grey sweater, rushing out of the depths of the woods and running at the beast, wielding a strange mace that was as massive as himself. Too taken aback to move, the two observed as the stranger jumped forward and swung his enormous weapon right in the face of the creature in a show of what could only be superhuman strength.

After the first blow, the Wolf growled and screeched at the newcomer before using its enormous paws to grab a massive boulder from the ground and throw it on the blonde. At the moment when the projectile was supposed to make contact, however, the mysterious man jumped to the side and rolled on the ground before he put his mace on his back and pulled back in its place a golden-colored bow.

"Come on, you toothed bitch…" whispered the blonde man as he readied his arrow.

When he fired, then the knight understood what the nature of the first attack had been: a normal arrow, with an explosive charge attached to it. He realized this because the stranger was now firing a second one in order to destabilize the creature. Once that was done, he repeated his previous tactic of smashing the thing with his oversized weapon with as much force as he could. This time, instead of bringing the mace down, he swung it forward, making contact with the beast's lower jaw.

When the blow connected, the sickening sound of bones breaking apart was clearly heard by everyone present as the body of the Wolf was sent back and fell on the ground, completely limp.

A few seconds of silence followed these events as the blonde man sighed heavily and stretched his arms. During this time, Jonas and his companion finally got out of their stupor and the knight took a few hesitant steps toward the monster's body in order to inspect it.

"It… it is dead. You have completely shattered its jaw and broken its neck in half!" Exclaimed the bodyguard, putting his sword back in its proper place before turning to this mysterious stranger. The latter directed his lazy gaze at the creature and shrugged in response.

"I guess so. A bit less durable than the others, this one." Was the stranger's only answer.

"Excuse me, my good sir!" Said Jonas, who had retrieved the two horses. "Please accept my eternal gratitude, as well as my companion's!"

"Huh?" Said the confused knight.

"Oh, you're welcome. Though, seeing at how weak it was, I think you could have beaten it on your own." Retorted the blonde man.

"Do not be so modest, young man. What it your name?"

"… Link."

"Well, my name is Jonas von Varley, and here is my personal guard and friend, Johnathan!"

"If it isn't too much to ask, mister Link…" Began Johnathan, wiping the cold sweat that had formed on his forehead. "What were you doing in the middle of these inhospitable woods?"

"Oh, that? I was hunting this thing, of course!" Said Link.

The two other men looked at each other with incredulity before the guard asked back:

"You are _hunting down_ those things?"

"Yes, this way I can make more potions of my own recipes."

After this moment, the noble and his companion let Link go to the corpse and retrieve its guts before taking apart its meat. As they asked themselves how he was supposed to transport all of this… merchandise, the strange man took out a stone plate and, after tapping on it a few times, almost all of the wolf disappeared into it!

"Whoa, what was that just now!" Asked Johnathan in surprise.

"Oh!" Seeming embarrassed, the blonde scratched the back of his head as he looked back at his magical tool. "That's a special sealing spell from my homeland, you wouldn't know of it."

"I see…" Said Jonas solemnly.

"If I might ask, exactly where do you come from?" Said the guard before his friend raised a hand at him, gesturing him to stop.

"It is of no matter. This man just saved both of our lives. Sir Link, if you would accept, I would like to offer you some time in our company, as thanks for your precious help."

The outsider was now looking back at the pair that he had just half-heartedly helped and brought his hand to his chin as he reflected on his options here: Passing time in what was probably a warm mansion or some snowy spot.

Really, what a tough choice…

"Well, consider me in. I hope I will not interrupt anything?"

"Certainly not!" Exclaimed the nobleman. "In fact, I know someone who will love to have another likeable presence around…" At these words, Link frowned slightly at the implications while Johnathan cringed slightly.

"So, do I get on one of your horses?" Asked the outsider.

"Yes, you can come with Johnathan, I'm sure he will be glad!"

Just as the latter was about to protest, however, Link smiled and sealed away his heavy weapons in his stone plate, at which point the bodyguard was a bit more willing to comply. Thus, the three men resumed their journey to House Varley.

"I really am grateful that we happened to meet you, mister. My niece will surely adore you!"

* * *

After a few more hours of traveling on horseback, Jonas, Johnathan and Link had finally arrived at the destination of the former two. While they approached the entrance, the Hylian observed the mansion that he had excitedly anticipated to sleep in.

Its exterior was placated with somber planks of wood, with several decorative stones which had been carved in order to make the ensemble look more pretty. There were a few windows, which the current evening lighting prevented any peeking from the outside.

At least, the owners must be quite rich to possess such a home, so Link wasn't so much worried about his comfort for the night.

Once at the doorstep, Jonas knocked on the door with a strange metallic handle which allowed to make more noise when used on the wooden door. Probably so the guest could bother as many people inside as possible, Link jokingly thought.

After a moment, a maid in a cold-proof uniform opened the entrance and Jonas announced his arrival, alongside the presence of his personal guard Johnathan and a supplementary guest, at which point Link waved at the young woman.

After this little introduction, she went back inside and the three companions then stood in the cold exterior, giving uncertain looks to each other, right before the front door opened again. This time, a muscled man with violet hair was standing in the entrance, looking at Jonas first with a slightly annoyed look then glancing at the guard and the wanderer who were behind him.

"Greetings, brother. You have brought unexpected guesses?" Spoke the supposed owner of the house.

"Ah, but Johnathan always comes with me wherever I go." Retorted the overweight noble.

"And what about this man?" Asked the violethead again, pointing at Link with his chin.

"Yes, he is a new acquaintance of ours. I will tell you the story inside!" Said Jonas.

After this quick exchange, the man, who introduced himself as Count Varley, invited the three guests in his home while rubbing his chin with his hand, as if he was pensive. When Link entered, the maid from earlier instructed him to take off his snow boots before he could go further, which the Hylian did without a word. Right after this, however, the violet-haired man looked him over and frowned before speaking to Jonas.

"Could your new acquaintance at least have the civility to shave and look somewhat presentable? I will not tolerate filthy peasants in my home."

Struggling against the urge to mock the nobleman, Link instead did his best to remain passive as he asked for the way to the bathrooms. After all, being in a vast and organized kingdom meant that he needed to not get on the bad side of the wrong people. It wouldn't mean danger to him, per say, but it certainly would be annoying.

After the maid gave him some directions, he walked over to the designed place while his two temporary companions made themselves comfortable in the beautifully decorated living room. Once he arrived, he took some of his time to examine his face and, reluctantly, realized what von Varley had meant by 'filthy'.

His visage, while still handsome with no doubt, was covered in dirt and other filth, which his long beard particularly suffered from. As such, he conceded silently that some hygiene would not hurt, especially after spending his time hunting down the pack of wolves in the forest.

Really, there were a lot of them. Jonas and Johnathan were lucky to have met him.

After shaving off his facial hair and spending some time washing his face, Link took a new look in the mirror in front of him and he smiled proudly. He had aged like fine wine, and his now naked chin put some emphasis on his sharp jawline. In a way, seeing himself in this way made him feel nostalgic of the first days of his new life, when he hadn't yet reached the jaded state that he was now stuck in.

Once he was done taking care of himself and admiring his own image, the Hylian returned to the living room where Jonas and his brother were discussing the former's travel while Johnathan contented himself with drinking tea and flirting with the Varley's maid.

"Ah, yes. I was certainly eager to arrive, but I have taken a bit too much of a risk, I will give it to my old friend…" Said the overweight noble with a resting expression.

"Were the roads dangerous to this point?" Asked his brother with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, they were. Can you imagine, John and I went face to face with a Giant Wolf in a forest near here, and it was much more powerful than either of us!"

"…" The Count frowned again as his brother spoke. When Link went into his field of vision, his expression grew even more somber. "Only one? How did you defeat it?"

"It is all thanks to this charming young man over there that we are still alive and breathing!" Exclaimed Jonas. "You should have seen him in action, brother, he looked like a prime example of the Knights of Seiros! He killed this beast in a mere few hits!"

"Yeah, and again…" Interrupted the Hylian, seemingly offending the Count by his lack of politeness in the process. "I've been there for some time, and there were far more of them before. If I hadn't been there, your brother was quite dead."

After Link told these words, the atmosphere of the room became quite heavy at the idea of the anticipated holiday reunions being ruined by such a tragic death. Count Varley, for example, could only sigh while glancing at the blonde outsider.

"I see. Thank you for saving my brother's life, peasant. I will allow your presence for these celebrations."

Now, this talk of peasantry was beginning to irritate Link slightly. He absolutely did not care about what others thought of him, but nobility was such a stupid concept in his eyes. Moreover, he _was_, technically, a noble in Hyrule.

"In any case…" Said Jonas with a wide smile. "Where is my little ray of sunshine?"

"Oh, right…" Count Varley whispered before shouting with a booming voice that made Link flinch back in surprise.

"BERNADETTA! YOUR UNCLE IS HERE, COME!"

A few seconds after this nonsensical yelling, Link distinctively heard a few stepping noises coming from upstairs in a hurried fashion. When the Hylian looked up at the second floor's door, all he could see was a little head peeking out, the one of a frightened little girl with messy hair of the same color than the Count.

At first, she looked all over the place with intense fear in her eyes before she finally caught the sight of the fat nobleman who had stood up and raised in arms forward, preparing himself for an embrace. At this moment, she seemed to calm down considerably and she rushed down the stairs and practically jumped in her uncle's arms. At the sight of this scene, a little smile crept up on Link's face, which strained some muscles which had not been put to work for a long time.

"Hello, my little Bernie, how are you?" Said Jonas, letting go of his niece and rubbing the top of her head, causing her to giggle slightly.

"I'm… alright, uncle…" Shyly said Bernadetta, before her sight fell on the knight and the wanderer who had accompanied the sizeable man. At this moment, she let out a little cry and returned close to her uncle.

"Oh, right, let me introduce you to mister Link!" He said, gesturing to the blonde man, as the latter nodded respectfully upon being gestured to. "He is very strong, and he just saved my life, can you imagine?"

After this short introduction, the frail girl could only nod rapidly with an embarrassed smile.

"Now." Stated the overweight noble while clapping his hands. "Weren't we here to celebrate?"

* * *

Foddlan year 1880

Harpstrings Moon

In the training grounds, everyone was continuing to stare at the outsider and the recluse girl who had stayed immobile for a good moment now. Link, with his soft smile, was still kneeling down while Bernadetta was still looking just as confused as when the bizarre scene began.

Even Jeritza, who would normally take advantage of this kind of moment to have some time for himself, found the current events interesting enough to pay attention to them, while Hubert observed the pair with a frown.

Right as the normally noisy area was at the peak of silence, however, the frail violet-haired girl's eyes suddenly watered up as she let out a few sobbing noises. She then lunged into an embrace with the Hylian, burrowing her face into his shoulder while crying silently.

At this, the entirety of the Black Eagles were thrown into complete bafflement as the young woman that they had all known to be the peak of social reclusion just threw herself in the arms of a complete mystery of a man. The outsider, in response, was holding on her tightly as he tapped her back.

Meanwhile, Caspar had begun to come back to reality as he looked around to examine his classmates' reaction. Even Linhardt, who hardly paid mind to anything, was staring at the two centers of the attention right now. Not far from him was Edelgard, who looked quite confused as well.

"Can you tell me what's happening? 'Cause I'm completely lost, here…" Admitted the brawler to whoever would be willing to listen. However, no one else was able to get more information on the situation than he was and thus, silence continued to prevail.

After a moment of this, Jeritza decided that he needed to have the class continue, no matter whatever adorable – or strange, depending on your perspective – event was occurring. He thus ordered the students to keep on training while he went to the hugging pair.

"Link, when you are done with this… whatever this is, I would like if you stopped distracting my students."

Hearing this, the Hylian looked up and nodded slowly to the masked instructor before he grabbed the young Varley by her shoulders.

"Come on, now. Get up and practice your bow shots, I'll go see you in a moment."

As the frail girl smiled shyly at Link and obliged, the blonde outsider looked over her whereabouts for a second before turning to the confused instructor.

"Yeah, we have met a few years back." Said Link in order to answer Jeritza's unspoken question.

"I thought that you did not have any records in Fodlan?" Responded the masked man.

"Really?" Asked the outsider with a curious face. "I guess he preferred not to…"

"Pardon?" Asked Jeritza, now getting slightly suspicious.

"Oh, nothing. Just… just go easy on this girl, alright? She's not got an easy life."

* * *

In a little town, not far from the mountain where Garreg Mach stood, life was following its usual pace, with the main street in particular being quite busy with the farmers, artisans and salespeople who disputed the available clientele as well as they could.

One of them was Anna, who had moved her stand from the monastery during the night in order to offer her services to as many clients as she humanly could. Her men were taking care of the business for the morning while she searched for something rare that she could hope to resell at an egregiously high price.

Unfortunately, the search for a hidden treasure did not seem to be fruitful today. The pink-haired merchant frowned as she thought of the very unfortunate missed opportunity that the outsider had prevented her from taking advantage of. Selfish prick… keeping this amazing little stone thingy instead of giving it away…

Despite this little inconvenience, however, she consoled herself as she thought of all the money that she would be able to amass from today's very busy selling day.

While she was lost in her thoughts, a little ruckus began to form at the entrance of the town. When it reached the marketplace, only then did the money-obsessed woman bothered to direct her attention to the source of all the commotion. Already, a few people were running in terror as a large and bearded man took parole in the marketplace.

"Alright, folks, I'm going to be clear, here. We are here to take stuff, and we don't need you to piss us off and play the hero. Don't come in our way or you'll see!" Despite the way those words were said, the grinning face of the fur-wearing bandit who was yelling at the crowd did not inspire any encouraging thoughts whatsoever.

"Like hell we won't!" Said an old farmer who had been carrying his crops. "Who the heck do you thugs think you are?"

In front of this defiance, as the numerous inhabitants of the small city became more and more agitated, the large bandit leader advanced toward the old man, lifting his chin in order to look down at him.

"Here's what I think I am." And, with these words, he grabbed the farmer's neck with his enormous, rugged hands, before throwing his free hand closed as a fist on his face, sending him flying across the street under the looks of the horrified citizens. Before anyone could intervene, the thug then took a few steps forward and grabbed his axe, looking around him, almost as a challenge.

Then, just as Anna had managed to sneak into the front of the crowd, the bandit leader swung his iron-made weapon across the old man's chest, sending blood on the ground as the body of his unfortunate victim fell on the ground.

Now, all hell broke loose as everyone who wasn't a trained fighter ran for their lives in a completely disorganized mess, which is exactly what the invading outlaws had been expecting. Content, the bearded brigand began barking orders at his two dozens of men, the latter which immediately proceeded to pillage the various vending stands that had been put into place.

As a few others had done, Anna refused to step back in fright, nor did she stay idle while watching innocents get robbed or killed. Many may consider her a greedy, selfish and self-serving stereotypical merchant, and they would be completely in their right to think so. However, for all of her faults, she never did anything _illegal._ She needed society to function correctly if she was to make a fortune, and the brigands' current actions were threatening this required balance and peace.

Instead, she quickly reached for the dagger she hid under her sweater and rushed the first bandit she could find. A quick slash to the throat had done wonders to stop the thug's wrongdoings, as the latter's gargling noises could attest.

Following her example, several other citizens who had some semblance of fighting skill had begun to fight back against the hostile invaders, with several merchants and their staff protecting whatever they could. Each example leading to another person standing their ground, the bandits quickly found themselves cornered, forcing most of them to retreat in favor of not getting brutally murdered like they had tried to do beforehand.

After this quick, but bloody scuffle, Anna wiped the blood off her blade with an angered expression as the people around her were slowly coming to their senses and expressing a mix a of relief, terror, or mourning.

Then, once the dust had settled, the pink-haired woman lifted her eyes up as she heard the sound of several horses arriving at high speed in the town.

* * *

After the dinner period of the Academy, the classroom of the Golden Deer was quite silent for right now, with only Byleth, Lysithea and Hilda.

The former two were in the middle of a private tutoring session, while the latter was busy reading through some books. She had claimed it to be some sort of study, but the new teacher suspected that it was only an excuse to slack off while the others were finding some chores to accomplish.

Sooner this day, after the general group talk about war tactics and the little speech she gave to the squad as a whole, Byleth had decided to give private sessions to those who had not participated in the mock battle first while the others would go accomplish various chores, beginning with Marianne.

Saying that this girl was a challenge to work with would be the mother of all understatements.

First, Byleth had planned to establish a list of the strengths and weaknesses of each student so she could know what to focus on in her teachings, what not to insist on too much, and what their role in the group would be during the field missions. Now, this is a simple enough exercise, which simply requires an adequate level of self-awareness.

With Marianne, however, it quickly turned into a seance of the young woman trying to convince her teacher that she didn't have a single worthwhile skill whatsoever. This was despite the letters sent by her adoptive father, Margrave Edmund, which praised her talents in the usage of Faith magic. Eventually, the former mercenary managed to get Marianne to recognize that she at least had some kind of affinity in this area.

At the end of the time that she had intended to be the teenager's given tutoring time, Byleth felt somewhat conflicted. On one hand, she absolutely wanted to gie every student in her class an equal amount of attention and time. On the other, though, this girl was clearly distraught by something and she obviously needed help to get out of her shell.

The former mercenary figured that she would ask for the help of Manuela or Hanneman for her lessons in magic, as she herself had practically never done anything of the sort in her life.

Given all of this, the succession from Marianne self-loathing festival and Lysithea's own turn had been, for lack of better terms, like a passage from night to day.

Despite being the youngest member of the group at a rather precocious fifteen, the white-haired girl was among the most confident Golden Deers, with only the likes of Lorenz and Leonie matching her trust in her own skills.

"First things first, however. There is one thing you must know, Professor." Said the prodigy, pointing a finger at her teacher. "I am here thanks to my sheer skill and hard work alone, not because of my Crest or status. I am not some 'cute child' that must be sheltered. Understood?"

"If you say so." Responded the new teacher before changing the subject as if it had never been brought up. "Let's do something easy enough. I want you to tell me about your greatest strengths."

"Of course, I can!" Exclaimed the white-haired girl, puffing her chest with pride. "I am extremely well taught in the art of both Reason and Faith, although I still need to learn a lot more if I really want to call myself an expert…"

Good, thought Byleth. She knows that she is not infallible and that she still needs improvement…

"Now, tell me your weaknesses, please."

Once she said this, though, the new teacher's previous excitement slightly shrank as Lysithea's face contorted before she began to pout.

"Weakness? Well… I don't really know what…"

"Really?" Responded the former mercenary with a scrutinizing expression before she reached out to get a grab on the young girl's arm, which got a small offended cry as she jerked her limb back. "And what if you tried to spar with one of your classmates? Do you think that you stand a chance?"

"I… fine. I will admit, I am not one for physical prowess." Said the young woman, diverting her gaze. "However, I am confident that I don't need to be in order to be a good combatant."

A small pause then occurred, during which the small mage stared at her professor.

"Do I?"

"No, not necessarily." Admitted Byleth. "Someone who tries to be good at both magic and physical attacks may manage to adapt their strategies to their foes' weaknesses, but more often than not they only succeed in being mediocre at both. If you truly believe that your magical might is enough, then I will not insist on the physical side, apart from some basic exercises so you stay in a good shape."

Lysithea then let out a small sigh of relief as one of her greatest obstacles for her graduation had suddenly disappeared.

"So, for my classes, Professor… do you have enough knowledge in magic to teach it?"

"No." A short and awkward silence imposed itself on both women as Lysithea frowned slightly. "I cannot teach you much about magic, as I have never really used it. I will try to have shared classes with the other teachers, as I am better at war tactics and strategies than they are."

"Oh, I see. Then, does that mean that we have pretty much… nothing to do for now?"

Before she would answer, Byleth took a few seconds to reflect on this. Of course, having absolutely no experience in her student's most important academic goal was a rather significant inconvenience. Of course, it did not mean that there was _nothing_ she could teach the girl. As such, the tutoring session shall go on.

"Hey, Professor? There's someone who wants to talk with you!"

Right as she was about to respond to Lysithea's question, however, both of the two women's attention was caught by Hilda, who had gone out to take a break in her current activity of doing nothing. The pink-haired woman was standing at the doorframe with another person who easily towered over her. Because of the lighting, Byleth couldn't distinguish their facial features for now, until the guest began talking

"Yes, thank you Hilda. Professor, Lady Rhea requires an audience with you."

As the figure advanced inside the class to approach the former mercenary, the latter began to recognize her interlocutor's distinct stern look and green hair and beard.

"Seteth." Said the professor in a simple salute before she turned to Lysithea. "You are dismissed for today, young woman. You may go study or rejoin your classmates in their activities."

In response, the young girl shrugged and picked up the various books that she had brought for the lesson before she got up and headed for her apartment, passing by Hilda in the process. Once this was done, Byleth glanced at the bureaucrat who was patiently standing near her and nodded.

"Very well, I will come." As the pair exited the Golden Deer's room in order to go meet with the Archbishop, Byleth frowned slightly at the man who was leading her the way. "Seteth, could you tell me why you thought this audience so important that you interrupted my tutoring?"

At first the green-haired man did not answer apart from a tired shaking of his head, although he did slow down his pace as he reflected on his own questionings.

"I did not decide of this, Professor. Lady Rhea did. For my part, despite my current reservations regarding you, I would much rather encourage the excellent work ethics that you have displayed so far."

'_This didn't really answer my question, but I guess I'll find own soon._' Thought Byleth.

The two continued in silence for a moment before Seteth took parole again. "Although… if you could help it, I would prefer not to be disturbed near midnight again. I sometimes have flying patrol duty, and I need to be as alert as possible."

"Of course." Responded the new teacher almost automatically before the implications of the bureaucrat's last sentence sank in. "Hold on, you ride flying mounts?"

"Indeed, I do." Answered Seteth. Although Byleth could not see it, since she was walking behind him, the green-haired man's face lit up ever so slightly as his interlocutor seemed interested in his own skillset. "Wyverns are fierce beasts, but once tamed, they will be the most reliable ally one can have on the battlefield."

Now, Byleth was getting quite curious of the bureaucrat in front of her, if her amused smile was anything to go by. The two continued their conversation as they entered the main facility of the monastery.

"I would not have guessed that you were a fighter on my own. Where do you come from? The Kingdom's army? The Alliance's military? You wouldn't come from the Empire, they are not exactly friendly with the Church…"

"My origin is of no importance, Professor. Now, come upstairs with me, we are almost there."

Thus, after a few more moments of silence spent traversing the building's bright hall and dark staircases, the pair finally arrived in the room where Byleth had met the Archbishop and her assistant for the first time and, sure enough, Lady Rhea was standing in its middle. Once they were in front of the green-haired woman, Seteth bowed with his fist on his stomach as Rhea smiled softly, although she seemed to lack her usual serenity.

"Very well, now we can discuss a little with our new professor." The Archbishop then took in a deep breadth and closed her eyes. It would be nearly unnoticeable to the untrained eye, but Byleth distinguished the look of refrained anger in her facial expression. "I know that it is still early in the month, but there is a mission that I believe to be adequate for you and your class. You must recall the group of bandits who have attacked our children a few days ago."

After a quick nod from the former mercenary encouraged Rhea to continue.

"The ones who have escaped your and your group's onslaught had retreated, but we did not know where. Now, however, they are beginning to harass the towns around the monastery, pillaging and murdering as much as they can get away with. However, they always flee back in the same direction: The Red Canyon."

At the mention of this place, Byleth's eyebrows actually lifted in surprise.

"The monster-infested fissure?"

"It is not only that." Explained Seteth, taking parole. "It is also a territory of extremely high spiritual value for the Church of Seiros. Somehow, these thugs have found a way to avoid or to ward off the beasts who live there and they have established camp there."

"The fact that these outlaws dare to soil those holy grounds is utterly unacceptable!" Exclaimed Rhea, elevating her voice for the very first time since Byleth had met her. "As such, your mission for this month will be to find those bandits and to eliminate them. Do you have questions, Professor?"

Before she responded, however, the new teacher had to take some time to reflect on the situation that the Archbishop was putting her in. She had barely come out of the mock battle, where her class revealed themselves to be a completely ununified mess in a magnificently disastrous fashion. Now, she was being tasked of bringing these children into a place full of dangerous beasts in order to find and kill a bunch of bandits. At this point, the killing itself was going to be the _easy_ part…

"I will come back to you if I have some later, Lady Rhea." She finally answered, bowing in the typical Fodlan's way. "However, the potential presence of monsters in the mission will be quite hazardous."

"Worry not about them. Your class will be escorted by Knight Alois and his men, as well as Link. This will be a good exercise for them as well."

"And of course, Professor…" Continued Seteth. "I will organize a simulation battle with the Knights of Seiros for you and your students during the next weekend. Your own mission will officially begin after this. Until then, we have troops looking out to prevent these bandits to continue their rampage."

After this quick recapitulation of what was going to be the month for the Golden Deer, Rhea concluded the meeting.

"Now, Professor, you may enjoy the rest of your day. May the Goddess bless you and your students."

* * *

As the given time for supper was approaching, the training grounds found themselves quite silent, as both the Black Eagles and the Blue Lions had finished their training sessions for the day and, in the absence of an official course of lessons for the Golden Deer, not much of their members had bothered to show up.

Of course, there are often exceptions.

While the usual weapon instructor had gone on his way to the marketplace, he left in the arena two students who were particularly eager to further develop their skills after what had happened the day before.

The first one was Lorenz who had grabbed a wooden lance in the large pile of low-quality training weapons before he went on the sanded floors in order to practice a few fighting techniques that he had learned under a private tutor from House Gloucester. Although the man had been a talented lancer, the violet-haired noble had simply been too young at the time to make something useful of these moves.

Meanwhile, near one of the pillars was Leonie, who had been busy shining up one of the old rusty bows from the place's reserves in order to use it in training later. Right now, however, her attention had been attracted by the sight of the heir of House Gloucester performing a few jumps and spins in the air. After a while, when Lorenz decided that he would take a short break from his practice, the mercenary wannabe got up and approached him.

"Hey, fancy meeting you here, Lorenz."

"Greetings, Leonie. Are your bruises feeling better?" Responded the nobleman in-between two deep breadths.

"Yeah, they're almost gone now. Come help me out, while you're not busy, will you?"

At this, the young man frowned slightly as he glanced at his classmate. Despite his displeasure, he decided to keep up his courtesy.

"What is it that you need help for?"

"Simply cleaning up all of those rusty things over there. Instead of being left to the trash, it could become useful later." As she said this, Leonie grabbed one of the axes that she had gathered and raised it in the Gloucester's direction, hoping that he would take it. In return, she was only met with annoyance and a scoff. "What?"

"I am sorry, but I must refuse. This sort of work is hardly befitting of someone of such a high status as me, and I have other matters at hand."

"Come on, stop sticking a broom up your ass for a minute and give me a hand. Is it really that humiliating for you to take care of some old weapons?"

"If we were talking about ancestral pieces with actual historical value, it would be different. I have responsibilities as a noble, notably to protect the common folk and as such I cannot take part in such… menial tasks."

For a few seconds, the arena went awfully quiet as noble and commoner glared at each other, both trying to outlast their foe in this staring contest. Eventually, Leonie spoke out.

"Well, then, let's suppose that a member of the common folk was right besides you and needed assistance from your person. What do you do?"

"In this particular case, I decline, as such a task is degrading to someone of my nature."

"Alright, then. Now, imagine that instead of doing something to help someone else, you instead acted up like a straight up asshole who believes that his ancestor or Crest or whatever grants him some kind of special place."

Another moment of silence came as Lorenz examined Leonie with utter contempt.

"If you wanted to have my help for anything, then attempting to guilt me into doing your bidding and throwing insults at me will not help you. Now, I require an apology for your arrogance and mistreatment of my person." After this, the violet-haired lad stood straight and crossed his arms with an expectant expression.

At this, the orange-haired young woman could only stand still, staring at her interlocutor with her mouth agape, until an irresistible urge to laugh took her over. With her voice echoing through the training grounds, Lorenz' visage lost all confidence in favor of utter confusion.

"Wo- Ha- Wow… 'Apology'? 'Arrogance'? Just how delusional are you?" Then, her amused expression turned sour as she lost all patience for the nobleman's antics. "All I asked for was some help. I could have repaid you the favor eventually."

"I would rather not. I am not a man to withhold such engagements from others. And for your information, you may benefit for now from being in neutral ground here, at Garreg Mach, but addressing the heir of House Gloucester in this manner will not end well for you. I would rather have you know now."

If Leonie had looked furious before, now she was _livid_.

"Now, you threaten me? You know what, fine. Spout your empty words at me all you want, I'll go eat."

As she stormed off, she did her best not to pay attention to her classmate's last retort.

"Great idea! This insipid conversation was beneath my time in any case!"

* * *

Much later that evening, as the time of the curfew was about to come, most students had long since reached their rooms, for various reasons. They were tired, afraid of being caught by the monastery's staff, of simply glad to be in the comfort of their bed.

It was not the case for Claude, however.

The future leader of the Alliance had instead turned his sight on the vast library of Garreg Mach, which was always filled with numerous literary pieces of all sorts, from legendary adventures of ancestral figures to history books to even encyclopedias, everything was here – except for what the Church did not want to let be known, of course.

The yellow-caped brunette was currently sitting at one of the many long tables which served to facilitate reading, with several books scattered all around his person. The one which was open right now was some sort of instruction booklet to the usage of Wind-type magic spells. The read was interesting enough, but this was not why Claude was here.

As he was turning the page, a gruff, yet soft voice suddenly peeked from behind him, startling the young man.

"Are you enjoying your stay here, youngster?"

When Claude turned around to see who had spoken to him, he uttered a mental sigh of relief when he recognized the hunched and balding figure which had appeared. Wearing a light mage robe, the old librarian Tomas was smiling gently at the young outsider as he peeked over the latter's shoulder to see what he was reading.

"Oh, of course! This place is really a treasure. Thank you for letting me stay so late."

"This is nothing, young man. However, I must tell you that the night is coming fast, and I don't want Seteth being mad for something so trivial."

"Wouldn't want that again, now would we?" After the old and the young man shared a chuckle, the tanned archer looked over to the books he had brought with him with a sad look. "It's just that I would have liked to read those as well, there is just too much! Hey, could I bring some to my room and bring them back early tomorrow?"

Rubbing his balding head with his right hand as he rested on his cane with the left, Tomas reflected on Claude's request for a few seconds.

"I… Yes, why not? Just do not damage them, please? This library is the work of my life, after all…"

"Oh- Of course! I will be back tomorrow by three of the morning, I swear, let me just…"

Then, Claude grabbed a few of the works he had put everywhere on the table and quickly put them in a beautiful pile. The one on top of it was identified as 'The Hero's Relics and History', which made Tomas lift his eyebrows.

"Ooh, a young man of culture! Those things are much more than meet the eye, you only need to see one in action!"

"Yeah, I know. My family has one of their own, so I guessed that I might as well learn more on the subject, right?"

"It is the right mindset to have. Have a good night, now!"

"Yeah, same thing!"

And thus, Claude headed up to the exit of the place as the old librarian realized that he was going to have to place back the books that the young Golden Deer member had not picked up.

'_What a sweet old man_', Claude thought. '_Perfect for my newest scheme…_'

Indeed. Now that he was out of sight of anyone else, he gave a peek to a few of the other books he had borrowed: 'Registration of visitors of Empire Houses, Years 1869-1879' and 'Criminal affairs of the Empire'. Getting access to those had not been easy and getting them to his room would have been outright impossible if not for the innocence of Tomas. However, they were essential if he wanted to learn a bit more about the ambulant mystery that was this Link.

With the kind of skill displayed during the battle against the bandits, Claude expected the blonde outsider to be a trained soldier from his homeland or, at least, a mercenary like his new teacher. Since he talked reasonably well Fodlan's language despite spending so much time alone, it must also mean that he must have spent quite a period in the continent, hence the records of visits book. The criminal affairs one was in case there was a reason for which the guy spent so much time outside of society. He had also begun to search for Imperial records, since Link was in Remire, which is in the Empire.

Now arrived to his room, the leader of the Golden Deer lit a small candle on his night desk and stretched a little before getting into his new read.

He was going to discover this man's secrets.

* * *

**Alright, it's notes time!**

**So, first off, I want to specify that character relationships will not necessarily go in the same way that canon ones did. Some event will occur that will strain or better some friendships.**

**Also, for the matter, I am trying to give every character a chance to shine in this story, but inevitably some will take a backseat in numerous parts of the story. Three Houses' cast is just too big for me to make them main characters.**

**Finally, if you have some personal thoughts that you would like to give about the chapter or the story in general, please go right ahead!**

**Have a nice day, and thanks you for reading. I hope you're having as much fun as I did writing it!**

**P.S.: I have editted this chapter in order to remove one of the books that Claude stole from the Church, as it was not only unrealistic for him to find it at all, but it complicated the story afterwards needlessly.**

**Edit for those who will care: Due to irl events, I'm going to take a short brake from writing this. It should not be long, but it is in order to let you all know that the next chapter isn't coming in the next week or two. (2019-12-11)**


	6. Ch 6 - Bandit Arc, Part 1

Fodlan year 1177

Ethereal Moon

Family reunions had always been Bernadetta's favorite time of the year. Someone who knew her somewhat would find this strange, seeing at how she usually reacted to social interaction. Indeed, in normal times, the mere sight of a stranger, or even a close relative, would send her in a fit of panic as she sought the nearest refuge.

During the End of the Year's holiday period, however, there was a major difference, and this was the presence of her uncle, Jonas.

For some reason, when she was with him, she felt as if there was not any reason to be afraid, that she could finally relax, for some time. Since her father did not like him very much, it also meant that the occasions where she could see him were rather scarce, which made them all the more precious.

Now that he had finally arrived with Johnathan, Bernadetta took the opportunity to sit by his side on a large couch in her family's main living room as Jonas and her father began to discuss of politics, a subject which bored her to no end. Fortunately, there was no mention of her dad's latest attempts at betrothing her, probably because the discussions that ensued were… less than pleasant for everyone involved.

The teenager's moment of happiness was somewhat disturbed, however, by the complete stranger who had accompanied the large nobleman and his guard. Her glance shifted to near the fireplace, next to which the blonde man had just sit. As her relatives' conversation died down, Jonas noticed her uneasiness and rubbed the top of her head while smiling.

"Do not worry about mister Link, Bernie. You have my parole that he is a trustworthy person! I haven't told you about how he came to us like a savior, slaying the beast which attacked us! Wait, it would be better if he told you the story himself… Link?" Called the overweight man to the mysterious outsider. The latter, in response, turned his head to look at the noble and his niece with a relaxed expression. "Could you be kind enough to recount the events of this afternoon?"

"You have already told the story, Jonas. It is not necessary." Objected the Count, who glared in his brother's direction. It didn't stop the blonde man from standing up and approaching the pair sitting on the couch.

"Well, if I only told what happened today, there wouldn't be much to say. I'll begin from the start of this adventure in particular. This, I don't think you've heard, mister..?" Said Link, raising his open hand in the direction of the master of the house in order to emphasize his questioning.

"You shall refer to me as Count Varley, outsider." Answered the purple-haired man.

"Very well, mister Count Varley. As for you, girl, do you want to hear the story?"

If she had to be frank, Bernadetta would have told everyone right there and then that she would much rather not have to interact with this strange-looking man. A mysterious stranger, who just comes in and saves someone out of nowhere? And what if he had put her uncle in danger in the first place, so he could save him and come in her house, and then kill everyone in their sleep…

However, seeing the expression of utter amazement in her uncle's eyes when he spoke of the way that this Link had saved his life, she couldn't bring herself to disappoint him and turn his offer down, and as such she gathered what little courage she had and nodded up at the blonde outsider, who seemed rather amused by her fright.

"Good." Said Link before he began gesticulating in all directions, describing his story's events with the movements of his hands. "It all began around a week ago, when I walked into this large forest for the first time. After just a few hours, I found the prints of an animal in the snow, but not any random one… Oh no, this one was big enough to gulp a little thing like you in one bite!"

Seeing Bernadetta shriek and holding tight on her uncle's arm quickly made it evident that hearing this example frightened the young Varley way more than the narrator had expected, but he decided to continue, nonetheless.

"I tracked it down for around a day and, when I found it, I discovered that it was in fact an entire pack of these giant things. At this point, I did what I would always do in that kind of situation…" He then paused, for some dramatic effect, before he resumed. "I threw an explosive in the middle of the group in order to scatter them around and isolate them. Once that was done, I chased after one and I battled it."

"Mister Link…" Interrupted Jonas, who was now frowning slightly. "I understand if you tried to be careful in this situation, but why would you need such precautions? The strength and ability you showcased us led me to believe that you could handle a few of these beasts on your own, right?"

"That is a fair assumption…" Admitted the outsider, nodding a few times to the side in agreement. "However, for all the skills I have, I have always had terrible luck at multiple encounters. I can easily focus on and counter one enemy, but at three or more, I tend to get blindsided."

"Oh, I see. Please go on…" Said the overweight man, with his niece beginning to pay more attention to the story.

"Anyway, so after I killed the first wolf, I took the opportunity to gather its meat and guts, as you have seen me do already…" Link continued, pointing to Jonas and Johnathan with two quick movements of his chin. "Then, I took them down one by one until the time that you two arrived."

"Ha, you truly are a fantastic one. To fight and defeat an entire horde of giant, magic-infused monsters! Do you not agree, Bernadetta?"

After a slow affirmative nod from the nervous girl, Link smiled proudly and shrugged.

"Well, I will be honest with you, these beasts were nothing compared to some monsters of my homeland. Remember how I broke one's neck in two hits? Some of the things over there wouldn't even have a scratch after that kind of strike."

"And where do you come from?" Asked the Count with a frown.

"Some isolated kingdom named Hyrule. It's actually pretty far; you need to get past Dagda."

At the mention of this continent, the two Varley brothers went silent for a few moments before the Hylian spoke once again.

"You know, your familial reunion isn't very animated. Is there anyone else to come?"

"My wife has gone to visit her own relatives for now and the rest of the Varley family will arrive tomorrow. Jonas always comes sooner than the rest." Explained Count Varley, diverting his gaze.

"M-mister?"

At the sound of the high-pitched, squeaky voice, all of the people present in the vicinity, from the servant maid to the Count himself, turned their surprised gaze toward the little girl who had just spoken, which only served to make her even more stressed. After a few moments of her being too afraid to speak up again, Link decided to oblige her.

"Yeah? You had something to say?"

"…"

Now that the stranger had asked her directly to speak to him, this somehow made the pressure over Bernadetta's shoulders even worse than it had been previously. Glancing to the side and seeing her father's disapproving scowl only aggravated her state further.

However, looking up and seeing her smiling Uncle Jonas, she gulped hard and spoke in the most 'normal' voice she could utter.

"Thank… Thank you." After saying these two words, she took in a deep breath and continued as the blonde man in front of her slowly nodded. "… f-for saving my… my uncle…"

Once she was done with this arduous task, she let out a heavy sigh as Jonas wrapped his arm around her in sign of congratulations. Link, for his part, grinned slightly as he bowed slightly to the little girl.

"You do not need to thank me. I'm always helping people out when I can."

* * *

Fodlan year 1180

Harpstrings Moon

It was barely passed midnight as the room of the young Claude von Riegan was filled with nothing but the sound of turning pages.

He needed to read as quickly as possible. The blunder of Tomas may have helped him get a grasp on some pretty important documents of the Church and the Empire, but their disappearance would be eventually be discovered, and the schemer was ready to bet that it would happen sooner rather than later.

He had decided to read through the records of visits in the numerous noble Houses in the Empire, if only because it was merely a long list of names, as opposed to the very extricate documentation regarding the criminal cases notebook. The problem, though, was that it was a list of every single person to have – officially, at least – passed through all of the noble households of Adestria. That made a _lot_ of names, and most of them were repeated quite often. Add to that the specifications that were sometimes put to explain the visits, and that meant that Claude had to be careful not to skip an potential mention of the Hylian.

The bright side was that Link had only been present in the continent for the last few years, if his claims were to be believed. As such, Claude did not need to bore himself with anything more than the last half of a decade of records. Since the lists were by alphabetical order for each year, that meant that from the years 1175 and onward, he would begin with the records of House Aegir, and he would finish with House Vestra.

After a few hours of meticulously analyzing the lists that he had basically stolen, the young outsider lifted his eyes from the notebook, emitting a sigh out of tiredness, as he leaned back in his wooden chair. He had just finished with the first few Houses of Year 1875, and there was still nothing on the blonde man.

When he was about to go back to his reading, however, Claude's eyes suddenly suffered from a dryness that forced him to close his eyes for a few seconds, which made him reconsider his next course of action. He had already passed some nearly sleepless nights lately, mostly because of his study of Fodlan, and this investigation on a fellow outsider was only accumulating his hours of missed rest. Thus, the young Riegan decided that he would continue his read later this week. He had Flying patrol duty along with Hilda in two days, but before that he would be able to read at his leisure.

Not even bothering with changing clothes, he went to bed and his mind quickly began to drift away in the dream realm. It was time for a much-deserved nap before he went to give to Tomas some of his books back.

* * *

Soon after the morning bells of the Officers' Academy made their melodious tune heard throughout the entire monastery, the young grey-haired boy known as Ashe stretched both of his arms after having gotten out of the students' barracks. The freckled archer smiled as he observed the magnificent colors that the sunset would give the early morning's sky, which were a superb range of colors from pink to bright blue.

A second thing which contributed to the boy's good mood was the fact that his House was going to have their first official weapon handling class since the mock battle, which was a great way of changing his mind from the lectures that Professor Hanneman would give them. Unlike some other students, like Sylvain or Felix, he didn't really hate those, but unlike others like Annette, he didn't really love them either.

He simply appreciated the physical exercise and bow practice a lot more.

As he went on his merry way to the training grounds, the grey-haired commoner decided that he could take his time a bit, since the lessons wouldn't begin until a good moment, and there happened to be a pair of the Knights of Seiros on the short path that he had to take. As he went by them, he unconsciously began to give more attention to the conversation that the two were having.

"So, the Archbishop truly let this… wandering vagabond to remain here? Bless her heart, truly, but she is far too trusting."

"Honestly… Outsiders are such wild cards. Sometimes you'll get ones like Shamir, who can help us out… you know, the good ones. The rest of the time, you end up with nothing but troublemakers. Have you seen the main Blue Lions, this year?"

"Oh, yes, this is just great!" Exclaimed the man sarcastically. "Now, we have one of those dirt-faces as one of our elite students!"

"I know, I bet the Prince only keeps him around like some sort of attack dog or something. Have you heard of the attacks that Duscur still does? You would think they learned their lesson by now…" Spoke the armored man before he noticed the glance that Ashe was giving him and his partner.

Upon seeing the apprentice archer, the knight simply bowed his head politely in salutation, as if nothing had been said. Ashe, for his part, preferred to accelerate his pace and distance himself from these two men rather than cause a scene by arguing.

Of course, being from Faerghus, he was not unaware of the injustices faced by Duscurians on a daily basis, as if they were all the same barbarians who had truly hurt the Kingdom. Being himself a former street dweller who stole whatever food he could to support himself and his little sister, he sympathized greatly with those poor men and women who were often openly abused by the citizens – and even authorities – of the Kingdom.

On top of it all, the Duscurian that these two knights had talked about was none other than Dedue, his classmate and the boy who had never expressed anything else than total, genuine devotion for Dimitri since the day of the Tragedy of Duscur. Yet no one seemed to treat him with any sort of respect short of the Prince himself.

The young man continued to ruminate these thoughts as he approached the gate of the training grounds. Looking behind him just before he entered, he could see a few other students wasting their time at the barracks, either by discussing among themselves or simply by waiting their free time away. Ashe himself was fairly sociable, but still. One could at least wait to be in class to chatter a bit.

One he passed the door and got a good look at the arena where he would spend his morning, he noticed that around half of the class had already arrived. Dimitri and Dedue, exemplary students as they were, had been expected, as well as the rather battle-focused Felix. Their instructor, the masked man Jeritza, was busy placing the training dummies and bow practice targets. Ingrid was also there, seemingly profiting of the time until Sylvain arrived to train her lance moves in peace.

Really, Ashe struggled to understand why this girl tolerated this Casanova so much. Maybe they had an history together?

As he was about to make his presence known to the early members of his House, however, he suddenly felt a faint gust of wind brushing past his back. When he turned around to see what is was about…

"Peekaboo!"

Out of nowhere, the outsider known as Link had appeared and placed himself right behind the grey-haired boy, causing the latter to flinch in surprise.

"Whoa, sorry, kid. Didn't think I'd startle you _that_ much." Jokingly said the blonde man with a wide grin before he directed his gaze into the training area. "You're one of these Blue Lions, right? Saw your performance the other day. Quite the interesting display."

"Ah, um… Thank you, Sir." Responded Ashe, not entirely sure of what this man was doing at this place. "Are you going to train here as well?"

"Not exactly." Admitted the pointy-eared man while crossing his arms. "I've decided that if I was to spend my time in here, then I might as well offer some advice to the rookies. Just something to focus on."

"Then, you assist Professor Jeritza?"

"Unofficially, yes. We've talked about this yesterday, and he agreed to it. So, your instructor seems to be busy with your two classmates already, so why don't I become your tutor for today?"

As the outsider said this, the freckled young man couldn't help but feel a certain uneasiness. In order to verify his words, he intended to go ask Jeritza by himself. However, when he turned back to his regular instructor, the latter was already looking in his direction and nodded once, and this, plus the thumbs up that Link gave back, pretty much confirmed the deal.

"Alright, then. Are you a good bow practitioner?" Inquired the young commoner, looking up at Link.

"That, and pretty much any other weapon you can imagine. Lances, swords, maces, I use them all." He then shook his head slightly and backtracked his words. "Actually, I don't use the punching or something like that that I've seen this beefy Golden Deer youngster do."

"It's not really a problem for me. I am not really good at brawling either."

"Very well. Then, let's see how you shoot." Said Link, looking over to the targets which were currently being unused.

When the pair arrived at the section of the area dedicated to shooting practice, the blonde outsider gave Ashe a training bow and took a knee down in the sand besides the freckled young man as he observed his movements.

"First, I want to see how you go at it. We'll begin with a simple unmoving target, then I'll see what I can do for you. Now, go."

After Link gave his instructions, Ashe steadied his breathing and slowly drew his bow before letting go of his first arrow, which successfully hit the target rather close to the middle. After this first good shot, Ashe turned his head to the outsider who was now rubbing his chin in reflection.

"Alright, that's not bad. Now, I'll show you something, and you'll try to replicate it, okay?"

Wondering what his temporary instructor had in mind, the grey-haired boy acquiesced and gave his training gear to the blonde man, who had just finished performing a few stretches. He then took a few seconds in order to seemingly evaluate the weight and balance of the weapon before he began walking to the left. Confused, Ashe nonetheless let his gaze follow him.

Then, suddenly, the Hylian started to rush to the right at blinding speed, drawing his bow and shooting at the target a few times in only three or four seconds before he stopped his mad run. At this point, he took an upward angle and shot before performing a backflip and shooting again. The very confused Ashe's eyes then widened in surprise when the two arrows hit the target at the exact same time, even if not in the center. Looking onto the thing, there were seven arrows planted into it, including his own.

"So, do you think that you can do that?" Asked the outsider, directing his attention at the astonished freckled teenager.

"W-What? I… not yet… You want me to run while shooting?"

"Yes, I do. If you want to be the best archer on the battlefield, then nothing must disturb your steady aim. Not movement, yours or the enemy's, not horse mounting, not even an oncoming attack! In fact, that's when I prefer to unleash a flurry of arrows on my opponent…"

"… I see what you're talking about, mister Link…" Responded the freckled young man, taking a pensive look. "Though, I'm still far from being an expert."

The blonde man then scowled slightly as his gaze wandered around in his reflection.

"Yes, fair enough." Admitted the outsider. "Well, for now, we'll just exercise your aim and stance. Now, show me again."

* * *

While most of the Golden Deer were away doing whatever task Byleth had assigned them for today, the wide classroom of the House was left almost empty, except for two people. The new professor herself, keen on continuing to teach every single one of her charges individually, and the young Hilda. The latter, while glad to not have to be forced into manual labor, was still slightly annoyed to have to attend this session at all.

She _had_ to, sure, and she went. It didn't mean that it pleased her the slightest bit.

"So, professor, I had some questions regarding the battles that you talked about yesterday…" Began the pink-haired beauty with a faked innocent tone.

"Go on." Bluntly responded the former mercenary.

"Yes, so… When you said that we were going to have a few weekends dedicated to those, you do mean something like a mock fight per Saturday or something like that, right?" Asked the young Goneril with an expecting look in her eyes.

"No. I meant battles against real people and monsters. It will be one per week, unless I manage to organize more."

"But… we will be putting our lives at risk for all these times, and it will _so_ time consuming…" Complained the pink-haired teenager, passing a hand through her hair.

"Indeed, it will." Byleth began. "As I have realized with the mock battle, I need to accustom you all to battle and effective tactics. Can I ask you what your family does?"

At this, Hilda frowned a little. She did not like where this conversation was going.

"My family is House Goneril. My _big brother_ defends Fodlan's throat against Almyra now that my father is too old." Said Hilda, putting an emphasis on the 'brother' part. However, rather than scolding her or comparing her to anyone else, Byleth instead lifted her head with a surprised look.

"Wait, where? How often does this happen?"

…

A strange silence then fell on the pair as Hilda found herself shocked by Byleth's question. She didn't expect everyone to know of the details of the Gonerils' constant struggles, but at least, she thought that it was common knowledge, like House Gautier's own battles with the Srengs.

"Fodlan's throat. You know where this is, right?" At her professor's unchanging expression, Hilda nodded awkwardly and proceeded. "It is a mountain chain at the farthest east of the Alliance. Past that, it's Almyra. You didn't know that?"

"I had vaguely heard of Almyra, but I was never really interested in politics." Explained the former mercenary.

"Uh-huh… Well, for your question of how often it happens, well… I would say around once every three or four months or so some years ago, but they are getting pretty tranquil since we fortified the Throat."

Byleth acquiesced slowly while taking mental notes.

"Well, in this case, let's picture this…"

'_Here we go…'_ Thought Hilda, letting out an annoyed sigh.

"When you eventually graduate and if it turns out that your brother needs your help for stopping another attack, how are you going to help if you did not gain enough experience on the field?"

"Well, I do not intend to follow the same career as him, thank you very much. I am like a delicate little flower, and I will be of no use in fights!"

"I will be the judge of this." Retorted the new teacher with her eyebrows lifted in incredulity. "I do not know about what sort of path you will take, but I have been hired to make all of you worthwhile combatants, and this is what I am going to do. If you do not care at all for your graduation here, then tell me now."

"No, it's not that I don't care, I just don't think that-"

"Good." Interrupted Byleth, now scowling at the pink-haired girl. "Then, I expect you to give your all on the battlefield. I will not tolerate an attitude like this in a place where it can easily lead to the death of someone, is this clear?"

At the mention of 'Death', the atmosphere of the room suddenly became very tense. Hilda in particular seemed to be quite uncomfortable. Yes, she was lazy and manipulative, but the idea of having her behavior cost the life of someone was unbearable to her. As such, she bowed her head slightly and nodded.

"Yes, it's clear, Professor… Although, could we choose the chores we have to do, at least?"

"No. You do your tasks, and you do them well. You will have free time during the evenings and one weekend per Moon, and this is not negotiable." As the teenager adopted a defeated frown, she added. "Now, I think we know enough of your shortcomings. Why don't you tell me what you do well?"

Another grunt came out of Hilda. If she told that kind of information, then that would certainly set a standard that her teacher was going to stick her to. As such, she would try to undermine herself a little. Not to make the professor think that she was worthless, but just little enough to not have to overwork.

"Well, I suppose that I can handle a battle axe well enough… Our House does use those a lot."

"Very well. Then, we know about what I'm going to train you in. Anything else?"

"I…" After this, Hilda paused for a short moment as she thought of what she was going to answer next. This time, though, it wasn't out of a desire to trick her teacher again. No, she was actually struggling to find something that she was good at.

"I see. Well, we shall discover the rest during the year. Let's begin with some battle tactics, shall we?"

"You really do like talking of those, don't you Professor?" Asked Hilda with a teasing smile.

"It is the most important thing." Responded the blue-haired woman with a deadpan expression. "As long as their synergy is good, even a bunch of untrained rookies can decimate a stronger group with a competent enough tactician. In order to pull the tactics off successfully, though, everyone must have a decent grasp on them."

"Huh, I guess it makes sense. Just… how long is this going to be?" Asked the pink-haired teenager.

"You mean the lesson?" Byleth asked back, at which Hilda nodded slowly. "It is still soon in the morning, so we can afford to end a bit early. I want to have a reunion with the other teachers regarding the classes, so I hope it doesn't bother y-"

Then, the former mercenary's gaze met Hilda's own, as the younger woman was grinning happily, and she rolled her eyes

"Of course, you do not mind. Let's begin."

* * *

Noon was approaching fast and, while the three Houses were busy with either their classes or their assigned tasks, the rest of the monastery's staff was occupied with accommodating their charges' various needs, as well as the numerous knights who were not currently away on a mission. This resulted in the somewhat calming ambient sound of people talking and working filling the various facilities.

At the fishing pound, however, there was nothing important to do to speak of. The kitchen staff had already taken all of the fish they would need for the day and almost no one had some free time to lose at the time, with an emphasis on _almost_.

Indeed, near the small mere, there was a small figure sitting on the edge of the small wooden dock with a fishing rod in her hands. The little girl, with her massive green braid, was joyously humming while she waited for her unsuspecting prey to fall into her trap. Suddenly, the tip of the young-looking girl's rod began to move in erratic intervals, signaling a catch. Without wasting any time, she jumped on her feet and pulled with a precise control of her own strength in order to pull the fish out as efficiently as possible.

In short order, her efforts were rewarded when the unfortunate creature sprung out of the pond's clear water while still struggling violently against the hook that caught it in the first place. Smiling widely, she brought her catch back to her and proceeded to unhook the poor thing.

Captivated by her tranquil activity, she had failed to notice the blonde man who was taking a break of his own, observing the swimming creatures and trying to identify them. When the girl's struggles had begun, the noise caused by the scuffle attracted the stranger's attraction and led him to watching the scene with a curious expression.

Shortly after getting the small animal off her fishing rod, the young woman's hands began to glow with a faint green light as she channeled her Faith magic through the fish's body. After all, the hook had pierced the thing's mouth, and it was only natural for her to heal it before she let it go back into the water.

After another moment spent petting the struggling creature, the girl decided that it was time to return it to its natural habitat – or at least, as natural as a square-shaped pond could be. At this point, she turned her head around to look toward the dining hall, only to catch the sight of a tall and bearded man staring right back at her. However, from having seen him roam free in the facilities for the last few days, she immediately recognized him and smiled gently while bowing slightly.

"Oh, hello! You must be Mister Link."

The Hylian nodded a few times in response.

"Indeed, I am. And what's your name, girl? Are you a student here?"

"Oh, I am not actually one. My name is Flayn, you have certainly met my big brother…"

At this, Link frowned slightly as he recalled as many people that he had met in this place as he could that shared some sort of resemblance to the young woman in front of him.

"Wait, let me try to guess… there's this guy in the Black Eagles… He's lazy and has green hair, what's he called…" In his mental efforts to remember the lad's name, the Hero of Hyrule squinted his eyes and rubbed his forehead.

"I believe that his name is Linhardt, but he is not my brother. This would be Seteth, the Second-in-Command of Lady Rhea!"

"Ah, I see…" Said Link back before he had a small double take. "Wait, Seteth? How large is the age gap between the two of you?"

"It is rather big, I concede. However, we do not really like to talk about this sort of thing." After this, Flayn quickly made sure to change the subject of conversation.

"So, what were you doing at the pound, Mister? Did you want to fish?"

"Oh, not really. I was just relaxing a bit after having helped out the Blue Lions in their training. They're a fun bunch. Besides, I don't really catch fish like you people do."

"Is that so?" Asked Flayn, tilting her head to the side. "How do you proceed, then?"

"Well, back in Hyrule, they mostly use fishnets, because they do need a lot of food in the towns. My methods are a bit more… resonant, so to say. I don't think your brother would appreciate if I started to do it here… Then, there's the Zora, but they go catch the fish themselves."

Upon hearing this, the green-haired girl frowned slightly, as if trying to recall a distant memory.

"The Zora… why does this feel familiar…" Then, suddenly, her face lit up as a radiant smile flashed across her visage. "Oh! The mythical fish people!"

In reaction to this exclamation, however, Link could only stare at Flayn in shock.

"… You _know_ of the Zora?"

'_Oh, no…_' Thought Flayn. '_Was I supposed not to?_'

The girl's worries, however, were short-lived as the Hylian's facial features morphed into a pleased grin and he let out a small laughter.

"Wow, I must say, I didn't expect a Fodlanese to know of them. Back in Dagda, they still did, though… Actually, I'm sure there were a few hybrids over there… How did you learn about them?"

"I… my father used to tell me stories of a Fishman warrior, and the tales of his faraway race… I suppose that they are native from your homeland?"

"Yes, as far as I'm aware. Shark-like men and women, passing throughout the water as if there was nothing slowing them down! I assume that you're a fish lover, right?"

Excitedly, the little girl quickly nodded her head.

"Well, then, let me…" Now, the Hylian reached to his belt and took his Slate off of it. After powering it on, he traversed through the menus and the photographs he had taken of the adventures of his happy-go-lucky days and finally found the one image that he was searching for. He then turned the device over to Flayn so the braided girl could see it.

In the photo, his old friend Sidon was proudly posing next to the battered body of the Lynel that pestered the Zora's Kingdom every Blood Moon. The beast's red mane floated in the hill's winds as the Prince of the Zoras rested one of his feet on its corpse. Link was absent from the photograph, as he had desired that day to let Sidon have the spotlight for once.

When she saw what the image was about, Flayn's jaw went agape out of surprise before she inspected it further. However, to the Hylian's surprise, the green-haired young woman did not seem all that surprised to realize that the creatures that she thought of as of legendary nature were indeed real. Instead, she looked… almost nostalgic?

He didn't really think much of it. She did tell him that her father told her stories of this, so she might just be recalling those found memories.

Just as Flayn gave Link his Slate back, however, she looked up and went stiff all of a sudden. Curious as to what could cause her this sort of change in attitude, the outsider turned around.

Seteth was standing in the stairs leading to the dining hall, staring sternly at Link. His gaze softened slightly as he addressed his little sister.

"Flayn, the dinner will soon be ready. Would you come with me?" As the young woman lowered her head and followed the bureaucrat's instruction, the latter stared back at Link. "And could I know of what you were inquiring my sister, Link?"

Before Link could retort, however, Flayn grabbed the older man's arm and smiled at him while she explained herself.

"We were only talking about fishing and old Zora stories, Brother. Did you know that Mister Link came from somewhere called Hyrule?"

"I am aware, yes."

"He told me about the Zora, and how they are a lot over there! He even showed me a picture of one! He looked just like-"

"Flayn, that is enough." Ordered Seteth, although with a slightly more agitated tone than the professional one he usually had. He then sighed and continued. "Pardon me for my rudeness. Now, let's eat, shall we? And Link?"

"Yeah?"

"I would appreciate if you did not speak of the old stories that my sister and I share."

"Oh, alright… why though?" Inquired Link, lifting an eyebrow.

"They… these are very old legends, and it is a very personal past-time of mine to read about old myths. Please, by all means, have a good afternoon." Said the bureaucrat, giving Link a last stare before turning toward the kitchens and lunchroom. Flayn, for her part, gave the Hylian a shy goodbye wave as they went on their way, which he returned.

The outsider's mind was now running wild, with his good old deduction skills coming back in the open, even though the years had rusted them a little.

'_It is a pastime of mine_', Seteth had claimed. However, Flayn had told that her father was the one to tell her the stories.

Plus, he didn't want Link to reveal that he had some sort of bookworm hobby… and for what, exactly? If he did care about his reputation, then he wouldn't act like an annoying super-protective brother and pester everyone with minor rule infractions, now would he?

Ah, it's not as if no one had secrets. Hylia knew that he had his fair share, so who was he really to judge anybody else for having some?

* * *

When the bells of Garreg Mach began to ring their tune signifying that the lunch break had started, the entire Academy was filled with the cacophonic rumble caused by the footsteps and banter of the numerous students and staff members who suddenly rushed toward the dining hall, where the precious food that would fill their hungry stomachs for the afternoon will be served to them. Some particularly gluttonous fellows would run as fast as they could in order to avoid the long waiting lines that inevitably would form, if they hadn't gotten to the lunchroom in advance.

Once they were gone, most of the monastery found itself rather silent, with only the guards and a few dutiful employees were still wandering around. Among the latter figured the trio of Byleth, Manuela and Hanneman, who had reunited at the office of the latter at the request of the former.

The Crest specialist sat down at his chair while sighing slightly and passing a hand through his well-trimmed hair. Manuela, for her part, had brought the one from her own bureau and crossed her legs as she looked at Byleth, with a curious expression. The former mercenary was standing near the doorframe of the room and brushed her hair to the side before she commenced the discussion. Unlike her usual blank stare, her forehead was wrinkled a little due to the unexpected stress load brought by her new job.

"Sorry for having made you do this during the lunch break." As Hanneman waved his hand dismissively at the apologies, the young woman continued. "But I had been thinking of a problem. You must have your own specialties as teachers, right?"

"Yes, we do. What are you getting at, dear?" Asked the songstress.

"Then, do we have periods at which we can exchange students for certain classes? I cannot perform magic to save my life, and I have three people in my class who wish to specialize in it…"

"Oh, you mean the seminaries, then!" Exclaimed Hanneman, his face lightening up. At the sight of his young colleague's confused state, he cleared his throat and inquired. "Hasn't Seteth told you of them?"

The former mercenary shook her head, which took the other two by surprise.

"They do not begin until next week…" Manuela began to explain with a gentle tone. "But all three of us will have specialized classes during which we can teach the other Houses' students our specialties for a few hours. I personally give lessons of Swordsmanship and Faith magic, while Crestman here teaches bow shooting and Reason magic. As a result, we both have you covered. Other faculty members will join later in the year, but for this Moon, it will only be the three of us."

Upon hearing this, Byleth seemed to relax slightly, up until she frowned again.

"Then, what sort of lesson am I supposed to give?"

"I thought that it was already decided, actually." Admitted Hanneman. "I hadn't asked Seteth yet. He's always so busy…"

"In any case…" Interrupted Manuela. "You should give lessons on what you are really good at. From what I heard, you were the strategist of your father's group of mercenaries, am I right?"

"I was the tactician, there is a difference." Byleth corrected. "A strategy is more on the long-term scale of things, while I'm more of an expert in short-term combat decisions and formations. For example, 'trapping an enemy fort in a siege' is a strategy, while 'place several scouts to intercept supplies' is a tactic."

"Then, maybe you could give lessons in Authority? Dimitri has expressed some interest in this matter as an academic goal." Asked Hanneman, raising his finger.

"This would be a good idea. I should also give combat lessons." Then, Byleth paused as she thought of the sort of weapon that she would take.

She was pretty good with swords, daggers and the like, but Manuela already had them involved in her own seminary. The problem was that, while she was good with lances, axes and bows, she was far from skilled enough to give valuable advice in the matter. It left…

"I will have melee lessons as a complement, then. I have often had to fight bare-handed when I got disarmed." Announced Byleth half-assuredly.

"Well, that is settled, at least." Muttered Manuela, who looked at the office's window's direction. "How are your classes going, for now?"

"Oh, it is going slowly, but we're progressing." Responded the former mercenary. "I still have a tutorial with Ignatz this afternoon, then there will be Leonie, Lorenz, Claude and Raphael before Saturday."

After she said this, though, her two colleagues gave her a silent glare, with looks on uncertainty all over their face.

"What?"

"You're only having one student with you at a time?" Carefully asked Hanneman.

"Well, I figured that I needed to give them private tutoring if I was to make sure that they progress well. During this time, the rest carry out chores that I chose for them or they train…"

"So you're only supervising one at a time, is that right?"

Now, the new teacher was getting the creeping feeling that she might have made a mistake in her course planning.

"I have already trained certain recruits of my father, it worked very well…" She looked over to Manuela, who was currently in reflection over the blue-haired woman's words. The songstress then lifted her head and gave her piece of thought.

"It is not a bad idea to have some one-on-one with the students, but you should keep the rest of your class under your monitoring. With your method right now, some of your charges will certainly neglect their studies. Some of them did not necessarily want to be here, and you need to motivate them."

"To be fair…" Hanneman interrupted. "It is a good thing to get to know them more closely at first. For the next week and after that, though, you should keep your class together."

"I see…"

"Now!" Exclaimed Manuela, standing upright while stretching her arms. The latter action caused her quite large bust to protrude forward, much to her colleagues' embarrassment. "Let's go eat. I'm starving and there is not much time left!"

Silently agreeing to her proposition, the two other House teachers slowly went on their way to the dining hall. Just before they exited the office, though, Byleth turned to Hanneman.

"Oh, how was your research on my Crest going"

"Not so good, I'm afraid." Admitted the monocle-wearing man. "I have run through all the records of Crests that I possess, but nothing resembles yours. With the circumstances of its activation during the mock battle, I have assumed that its power had something to do with either blocking or healing damage, but then again, not much. I am beginning to think that you bear the Crest of a long-forgotten bloodline."

"Huh. Well, tell me if you find anything new."

"I sure will, Professor."

* * *

Shortly after the end of the lunch break, every student had come back to their respective House's classroom in order to have some lessons, except for the Golden Deer, who were mostly let loose in the facilities.

For the members of the Black Eagles, this meant that they were going to have a thorough lecture on the usage of Faith in battle. Manuela straightened her dress before she began discussing of the chosen with the class.

Meanwhile, the young Hubert had chosen to remain in the back of the class and take notes into a notepad. He wasn't actually scribing any worthwhile information on what his teacher was talking about, however. He may have great talent in dark magic, but Faith required an ease of mind that he simply did not have, and as such he was occupying his mind on something productive instead.

Link, the outsider.

He knew that he had heard this name when his mistress told him about his exploits, but he could simply not recall where or when. Add to this the fact that this wanderer got allowed to stay in the monastery just as Lady Edelgard went to study, and it put the servant in a quite uneased state.

That was, fortunately, until the strange interaction that the vagabond had had with Bernadetta the day before. At first, Hubert had been just as dumbfounded as everyone else, notably by the girl's sudden change in attitude with the blonde. However, during the rest of the day, the sinister servant's mind ran wild as it began to remember when it had heard of the mysterious outsider.

It was not even a year ago, when the quite sensational news of the near murder of Count Varley had spread around Adestria like wildfire. Apparently, his brother had welcomed an outsider in his home for some time, with the name of Link, and the latter was the prime suspect instead of immediately being recognized as guilty, since the Count was too traumatized to recall the events clearly. Coincidently, the man had disappeared after the event, never to be heard from again.

Until now.

Yes, it made sense now. This guy's identity was a perfect masquerade. Take the name and appearance of a man who disappeared some time ago, make a splendid first impression with the Church and get a prime access into the Officer's Academy. Now, with Link's proximity to Bernadetta, he was able to monitor Lady Edelgard at his leisure…

"Hubert, could you please pay some attention?"

He was suddenly taken out of his reflection when Manuela called out to him in the middle of her lecture with a stern look on her face. Not even bothering with saving face, the tall boy simply nodded at his teacher and feigned writing something on his paper that was related to the class.

Then, he looked around in order to observe the group's whereabouts. Linhardt was strangely attentive to the professor's lecture, unlike during literally any other time of the day, while Dorothea was also paying a good deal of attention, always eager to expand her repertoire. Caspar and Petra, while they were hardly mages, were still listening when their teacher talked about the ways to counter a Faith attack and how to work in tandem with a healer. Lady Edelgard, exemplary student as she was, was sitting at the front of the classroom and discussing with the songstress.

Then, there was Ferdinand, who was always asking his pointless questions. Hubert was not sure if he could put up with his attitude until the end of the year. He had optimism and good intentions, but he was hopelessly obnoxious and always treated everything like it was a competition to Lady Edelgard. He was taken out of his reverie when Manuela went to scribe something on the chalkboard.

"Oh, my… It seems that I forgot something… Bernadetta?"

A shaking voice asked from the back of the classroom.

"Y-yes, mad-madam?"

Oh, yes, Bernadetta. Hubert was surprised at how easily she had passed under his radar earlier… which was weird, considering she had been a pivotal part of his reflection prior.

"Could you be a darling and go ask Seteth for some chalk, please?"

Despite her expression dropping as if she had learned of a closed relative's death, the fragile girl still nodded and slowly got out of her chair in order to do her commission. Meanwhile, Hubert began to frown.

She was the key.

If Link was actually an impostor masquerading as him, then this girl would be the only person who would be able to realize it. He _had_ to get all relevant information out of her in short order.

Now that he thought of it, he could also stalk the alleged outsider and observe his routine. If the man worked for who Hubert believed him to, then he must certainly respond to some sort of master. Since the blonde man seemed completely free to roam free for the moment, this would be very easy to pull off.

As he continued to reason on his next course of actions, he looked up and gave a worried look at his mistress, Lady Edelgard, who was diligently following the lesson and putting up with Ferdinand.

He had to proceed for her. Whether the man was a possible threat or a potential ally, the matter needed to be settled as quickly as possible. No matter how dangerous or malicious Link could be, there was no way that he would let Lady Edelgard was going to deal with him on her own.

This was his role.

* * *

While the students and the Academy's staff were occupied with their studies or their duty, the marketplace had found itself rather tranquil due to the lack of people to flow through and take part in mercantilist activities. As a result, most of the merchants had forsaken their stands in favor of either personal business or rearranging their little shops.

Meanwhile, at the small enclosure usually reserved to outsider merchants, Link was taking advantage of the general break in order to maintain his end of his bargain with Anna. The Hylian had thus brought in the ingredients required to do so. The merchant girl watched on expectantly as Link began explaining the process required to produce Hyrule-crafted potions.

"First of all, you will need either a small reptile or an insect which presents some specific characteristics. For example, this…" At this moment, the blonde man then reached for a white bug that he had put on display on a nearby table. "… is something that I've dubbed an 'iced dragonfly', from the plateau of Oghma. It is a dragonfly who has developed a resistance to cold and which, when cooked properly, can grant this ability to a person."

"I see, that's logical." Commented the pink-haired woman as she brought her index to her chin. "So, you boil them up in order to extract their active agent?"

"Not exactly, let me finish." Then, Link grabbed his Slate and commanded it to materialize one of his stored items, which turned out to be a piece of Giant Wolf intestine. "You see, in order to work properly, the main ingredient must be mixed with a specific kind of flesh."

"But aren't these just some animal's guts?" Interrupted Anna. The Hero of Hyrule gave her an annoyed look before continuing.

"Not any random one. Back in my homeland, we used the parts of monsters that were infused with some sort of dark magic. However, recently, the source of it has been… neutralized, and as such these monsters don't make for good potion ingredients anymore."

"Wow, it certainly isn't fortunate. You think that if we get there and sell some to them…"

"Later." Interrupted Link. "However, right after entering Fodlan, I discovered the existence of these 'Giant Monsters', as you call them. As I've learned, they grow to a disproportionate size due to magic infusing their bodies, which normally makes their meat inedible."

"Yeah, I know this. So, this means…"

"This means that these creatures make the perfect substitute for the Bokoblins and Moblins that I once used. Now, I've borrowed a cooking pot from the kitchen, so I'll do a demonstration for you."

"Gladly! Though I doubt that you managed to actually get the staff's permission. I've been coming here for some time, and they take their protocols pretty seriously." Said the merchant girl with an amused grin.

Shrugging his shoulders, Link did not let this accusation slow him down and promptly lighted up the few logs of wood under the pot with silex stones and waited for the water inside to begin to boil. During this period of time, a few other merchants had gotten curious of what was going on, but they had been driven away by Anna's own men.

Wouldn't want to lose exclusivity on a new product, now would she?

When a few bubbles began to erupt from the fuming liquid, then Link reached for the dragonfly that he had decided to use and threw it in the pot. Immediately, the concoction became clouded in a white mist. Then, he took a few parts of magic-infused Beast guts and put them in the mixture as well, and now the water's color was getting thicker and thicker.

Now getting more and more invested in the ongoing creation, Anna took a few steps forward and observed the reaction of the bug, meat and water and, as if it was a sort of soup getting prepared, she inhaled some of the fuming coming out and instantly flinched backwards, with her face twisted in disgust.

"Yeah, it doesn't really smell or taste good. As I said, this flesh could not make for any eatable meal. I can cook competently enough to tell you that…"

"No kidding. Is there no way to just infuse the bug with magic so we can extract its… powers?" Then, the merchant adopted a pensive expression, wondering why this seemingly simple method had never been discovered.

"Well, I cannot really use magic myself, but if no one in Fodlan has done it before, then maybe it isn't necessarily the magic, but the way it transforms the guts that cause this reaction… You'll have to ask an expert for that."

As he finished speaking, Link took a peak at the mixture that he was preparing and began to stir it up slightly, evaluating its texture while Anna looked on in silence. Once the Hylian was satisfied with his preparation, he began to stir it up some more.

"Is… is it ready?" Asked the greedy merchant, with her wide eyes glowing with excitation.

"No, not yet. As it is now, it would be almost useless. We need to evaporate more of the water in order to concentrate the whole thing." Responded Link, still focused on his creation.

"I see. Could we remedy to this by adding more ingredients at once?"

"This is actually a good question. The more main ingredients – bugs, lizards – that you have, the more intense the effect is, but more supplementary magical meat will increase the duration of the effect. Just adding more stuff will just make the overall process slower."

Nodding comprehensively, Anna stayed a bit further back in order to let Link observe his craft. At this point, however, a deep voice suddenly came from behind the two and surprised them.

"Anna. I have come for my command."

While slightly startled at first, it didn't take much time for Link to recognize the person who called out to the merchant from his voice alone. Turning around, he smiled slightly when he saw the form of Jeritza, looking at Anna dead in the eye.

"Oh, yeah, you wanted to take your new-"

"Not here." Interrupted the weapon instructor, glancing at the blonde outsider, who nodded at him in greetings.

"Ah, yes. Come with me, I'll show it to you." Commanded the merchant before looking back at Link. "It shouldn't take too long, so you can just finish it up while I'm gone, alright?"

After nodding slightly in agreement, the Hylian looked in curiosity at the two as they went into a more discreet part of the marketplace. When they went out of view, Link contented himself with fulfilling his part of the accord. If the mixture's state was of any indication, then it wouldn't be too long either.

After a few minutes, Anna came back to Link with a happy smile on her face. The Hero of Hyrule could only guess that she had just made a good deal of profits from whatever she sold to Jeritza.

"Ah, one good thing done! Now, my attention is all yours!" Exclaimed the pink-haired woman, rubbing her hands together.

"Perfect, I'm almost done. We'll just need to put it in flacons after that. You want to test them?" Asked Link, pointing at the impressive, yet disgusting-looking white concoction boiling in the pot.

"Uhm, you'll go first, then I'll have some too. You know, client satisfaction is extremely important, and as such I shall test whatever I make them take."

At this, Link nodded in agreement. He sometimes wondered if Beedle took similar precautions back in the day…

Once the potion had been taken out from its original container, the Hylian took the little bottle that they had put it in and took a quite sizable gulp and immediately felt its effects. Smiling proudly, he nodded at Anna, who then drank the thing herself. Apart from a little twist in her face, likely due to its horrible taste, she didn't react much.

"So… what am I supposed to feel next?" The merchant asked, checking herself out as if she was going to mutate into some sort of monster.

"Not much." Link began to explain. "The potions don't make you colder or hotter, they make you able to tolerate extreme temperatures more easily. You'll still feel as cold as before if you stand naked in the snow, but it will not be as inconvenient."

"I see. I'll take the rest and test it when I go to Faerghus. I think I'll begin to make more of these, if it works. Ten percents off for just you will certainly be worth it!"

"Yeah, it'll be worth it." Repeated Link. He then looked at the sun slowly going down the horizon. "Now, if we're done for today, I'll go take a walk before the supper. I told Jeralt that I would be there, and I am a man of my word."

"Someone who keeps their promises is someone worthy of trust… obviously." Stated Anna, examining the bottle containing her potential next main source of business. "I'll let you know if I need anything else, Link."

"Alright, good evening, then, Anna." Said Link, saluting the merchant as he went in the direction of the exit.

"Bye!"

* * *

After the constant, boring silence that enveloped the Monastery during most of the day, came the utter chaos and uproar which accompanied the evening's servings at the dining hall. Those who had been either wise or lucky enough to arrive first in line had already begun to take a seat at one of the many long tables of the place, while the unfortunate rest had to wait in queue, with the delicious odor of the food serving as torture to their empty stomachs.

Byleth and her father, fortunately, had been of the first group. The blue-haired woman had decided to end her first session with Ignatz sooner for the purpose of avoiding the waiting time and the young man had not been against it. As for Jeralt, as he wasn't assigned to anything at the moment, he could afford some flexibility in his schedule.

Father and daughter had nonverbally agreed to go in the corner of the large room, so they could eat in as much in peace as possible. When they sat down, though, Byleth looked at her plate and couldn't hide her disappointment, which slightly amused Jeralt.

"Hey, looks like even a place like this cannot always accommodate an appetite like yours, kid. You can always go take seconds if you wish." Said Jeralt playfully as he pleasantly hummed from the smell of his own meal.

"I sure will. These portions are ridiculous." Responded the new professor with a frown.

"Ha, you've always been more about quantity than quality. Try to enjoy what you have now, at least. I swear, you'll not always get a second serving because you didn't savor the first."

Sighing slightly, Byleth was about to comply and try out her food when a third, bearded figure entered her field of vision, dropping his plate on the table while complaining.

"They call _this_ a supper? This would barely qualify as an appetizer!" Claimed Link, exhaling out in frustration as he sat next to Jeralt, who had placed his face in his palm. "This is the first time I've come here to eat, and honestly it'll probably be the last. I can cook my own stuff."

"Wow. Kindred spirits all around tonight. Just my luck." Groaned the knight while Link looked in Byleth's direction, acknowledging her with a nod, which was quickly reciprocated.

After this little outburst, the Hylian nonetheless eyed up his meal and prepared himself to eat before the newly re-appointed Knight of Seiros spoke to him and Byleth.

"So, you're both getting used to the life here?" Asked the orange-clothed man.

"For now, I still need to get the hang of teaching, but with the help of Professor Hanneman and Professor Manuela, I think that I'm going in the right direction."

"And how was your lesson with this kid… you know, with the glasses?" Jeralt inquired again.

"His name is Ignatz, and it went well enough. He is not very confident, but he can get a lot more assertive when speaking of something that he likes, like tactics."

"Well, he definitively sounds like he is on the same page as you, at least." Jeralt said jokingly before turning to Link. "And what about you? You spent quite a lot of time out there in the woods, didn't you?"

"Oh, it's happened a few times already. I come somewhere, the time to have some pleasant time, then I depart once again to the next step of my quest." Responded the Hylian.

"What is your quest?" Byleth asked while tilting her head slightly to the side.

"Well, that's the thing… I _used_ to have one." Admitted Link with a sad frown. "Nowadays, I go when I'm bored more than anything, or when I…" The outsider then paused and his gaze remained fixed, looking at nothing in particular. When he came out of this trance, he glanced back at Byleth and Jeralt with an awkward smile.

"That is a story for another time. Until then, let's just eat."

The new teacher, the knight and the wanderer then silently enjoyed – or, in Link and Byleth's cases, _devoured_ – what they had gotten out of the kitchen and quickly resumed talking once they were done.

"You said that you usually cook big meals for yourself?" Inquired Byleth, to which Link acquiesced. "Do you think that you could do some for me, sometimes?"

"What sort of man would I be to let a young woman starve to death?" Joked the Hylian. "I was thinking about helping out the staff at big events. During these, I would get us as much food as we want."

Then, as this topic died down, Byleth turned to her father.

"Do you have any news of the bandit group that we supposed to fight at the end of the moon?"

"Alois and his men have done some cleaning up duty after they attacked a few towns." Said the Knight. "For now, they are making sure that they are not causing any more trouble, but Rhea wants to have them forced out of the Red Canyon as soon as possible, so I'm not sure if it really is going to be your assigned mission. If it is, it risks being forwarded a bit."

"Wait, what does that mean?" Asked the new professor with a hint of worry. "You saw them during the mock battle, they are not ready to fight yet. At least, tell me that it is not until next week…"

"I can't promise anything, but I'm confidant that if it really gets too soon for your class, they will give you something else."

"Wow." Whispered Link. "So, the Church is just cooking them up to be picked up by their rookies? That's harsh, but I can't say these thugs don't deserve it."

"Yeah, the Church of Seiros can be a bit… extreme in their measures, sometimes. Some things just don't change."

As the three had finished their plate and the line to get seconds was still ridiculously long, Byleth and Link both abandoned the idea of filling their bellies to their hearts' content for the evening and all three of them decided to call an end to this day.

"Alright, let's see you all tomorrow. Were you doing anything else tonight?" Asked Jeralt, mainly to his daughter.

"I have to re-plan the lessons that I intended to give my students, so I'm in my room for the night. Goodbye, dad."

At this, the new teacher waved at her father, getting out without even a smile, which made Link slightly curious.

"Your girl, she doesn't seem to be the most emoting thing around, is she?"

"That's how she is." Jeralt responded. Looking at him, however, Link could see that his face was slightly wrinkled from either anger or worry. "As you said, that's a story for another time. What were you going to do now?"

"Going camping in the woods tonight. I like the comfort over here, but sometimes a man just needs to reconnect with his roots a bit."

"Don't go disappearing on us for your quest so fast, kid." Said Jeralt with an amused smile.

"Have no worry, that's not happening right now. I'm having too much fun right now, and there are some people I would like to have more time with."

On this, the knight and the outsider went in their own direction, while the uproar of the dining hall was slowly dying out as many were quitting the space as well.

* * *

**Alright, another chapter out! I know it has taken a lot of time, and I am sorry for that. A mix of school and all the stress it brought and the attention it needed.**

**Well, now it is done, the beginning of the Bandit Arc! I've decided that I would separate the story like this instead of having every chapter named individually, mainly because we're looking at a lot of chapters here. I don't know the exact number yet, but we're ony just beginning.**

**As usual, I'm asking for your feedback. Do you think that the Zelda and FE universes are blended well together so far? Do you like the way I insert Link into Garreg Mach? What do you think of his and Bernadetta's shared backstory so far? Do you appreciate Byleth's characterization? Don't hesitate to ask questions as well!**

**Side note: The seminaries will basically work as optional courses that the students will be able to attend as they wish. Since Manuela already teaches Swordsmanship in those, I decided to have Byleth teach brawling instead, as it is one of her strengths. It will allow for certain characters to meet while they couldn't have otherwise. Remember how Dimitri wanted to follow leadership lessons?**

**On this, I wish to you a wonderful Holiday period, may this humble piece of amateurish literature be my little present to you all!**


	7. Ch 7 - Bandit Arc, Part 2

Fodlan year: 1177

Ethereal Moon

If the temperature outside of the Varley Mansion had been chilling when Link had first arrived, it was now downright glacial. Just by the action of breathing, both he and Johnathan were causing the humidity that they exhaled to instantly freeze on their upper lips. If Link hadn't shaved prior to this, he would probably already have a few ice blocks stuck in his mustache and beard.

Fortunately, even though they had been forced by the owner of the place to wait outside, neither of the two men were suffering from it. Indeed, Link had been kind enough to share one of his ice resistance elixirs with Jonas von Varley's personal guard, and he had a feeling that the nobleman himself would be glad to get some of it himself for the ride.

Both Link and Johnathan's attention were grabbed by the front door of the massive home opening up, with the third member of their group saying his last goodbyes to his niece, Bernadetta, while putting up his massive coat.

After giving Jonas and both horses some of his potion, Link prepared himself to salute them and go on his merry way, until Jonas spoke up to him first.

"Say, Mister Link. Why don't you come over to my own propriety for a few days?"

"Actually, I was about to go on my own, good Sir. I wouldn't want to trouble you."

At this, both the large nobleman and his guard burst out in laughter, which only served to confuse the Hylian. Once they were done, Jonas waved his hand dismissively at Link.

"Oh, please! Do not say things like this! I may not be the richest noble in the Empire, but I can afford to house a man for a while! Besides, it is only natural to offer you something in return for saving both of us. You even gave us something to fight the cold for the ride back home!"

"I suppose it is fair." Admitted Link, contemplating the scenery as he considered the offer. Shortly after, he shrugged slightly. "Alright, I'll come back with you. No need to get me on your horses, though, I'll just walk."

Elated to see his proposition accepted, the nobleman let out a pleased sigh as the trio began their travel back to Jonas' home. This time, since it was very early in the day, the three men had opted to take an alternative route to the one the noble and the guard had gone through two days prior, just in case something else was lurking in these woods. Link wasn't worried, but the other two could be hurt in the potential crossfire if another fight was to occur.

Immediately after the beginning of the three men's travel, Jonas and Johnathan started to speak of their personal impressions of the family reunion they had just attended. Having nothing better to do while he walked along, Link listened to their banter in silence.

"My brother… what a case, wouldn't you say?" Jonas asked to his old friend as the latter acquiesced. "'Trying to get a say in the internal affairs', he said. This is only going to exasperate the others even further."

"Not to mention…" Added the guard. "That he already isn't really that important in the grand scheme of things. The man responsible for religious business in the faction with the least amicable relationship with the Church of Seiros is far from indispensable. Does he think that the others will put up with this forever?"

"And the way he spoke of Ionus, the poor old man. Hasn't he suffered enough? I heard that even more of his children have died already. How many of them could still hold the throne if he was to die himself?"

"Counting the ones who have just gone completely insane or not?" Said Johnathan with a bit of irony. "I swear that something fishy is going on that Vestra and Aegir are not telling us. There cannot be that many children who simply suffer from these afflictions without explanation."

"Indeed. Something is happening…" Complained Jonas before his voice began bitter. "And have you seen Bernie? She looked even sicker than last time."

"Yes, I have. What he is doing to her will just hurt them both." Began the guard as he adopted a careful tone. "While I don't agree with it, I see where he's coming from with making Bernadetta a more… passive wife, so to say. Though, there are so other many young women born from other, more prestigious Houses, that just being a trophy wife will not make her stand out. Did he really expect Aegir to betroth his eldest son to her?"

"This is not the point!" Exclaimed the large nobleman, causing his friend to flinch slightly. "I do not care who she marries, what I care about is her!" After this little outburst, the Varley took a few deep breaths to calm himself down and noticed Link looking at the two of them back and forth. "Excuse me if our discussion bores you."

"Oh, no, it's fine." Responded the blonde Hylian. "I actually like listening to conversations. You would be surprised at how much insight of someone or something you gain when you listen closely, especially you two and with how political you were getting. Although, why is your brother trying to marry Bernadetta off to anyone?"

"Ah, this is the painful reality of the nobility." Said Jonas while looking in the sky with a hint of sadness. "Personal well-being goes second to political obligations. I was lucky to be the younger brother, so I escaped this craziness."

"Is this not the same in your homeland, Link?" Inquired Johnathan.

"No, not really. Nobility in Hyrule has practically disappeared by now." Explained the blonde man.

"I see. In any case, I certainly hope that you will pass a good time in my humble propriety, Mister Link. I have several acres of land with several people to cultivate it, although not much activity goes on outside in this time of the year." Said Jonas with the first smile he had since they departed from his brother's home.

"The farms are a lot more active, though." Johnathan specified. "The cattle needs care all the time."

As the three-way conversation died down, Link reflected on his current situation. At first, he had been reluctant at the idea of passing a few days under someone else's hospitality, but Jonas and Johnathan both seemed to be of an enjoyable enough company. Furthermore, they seemed to be well knowing of the political status of their nation, which would be useful for Link in order to navigate through Fodlan more efficiently. Going through a scattered wasteland and a well-organized empire were two completely different ordeals.

* * *

Fodlan year: ?

? Moon

For the first time in a long while, Link felt perfectly rested when the sunlight of the morning hit his eyes, forcing him awake. As he slowly opened them, however, his mind was gradually being filled with confusion.

He wasn't in a forest, like he gone to sleep in before… He was in… a bed?

Slowly getting up, the Hylian tried to rub his eyes in order to clear his view, but to no avail. Still, he could distinguish the shape of the window through which the light was coming from. Looking around, he began to recognize a few more of the furniture present in the place. A desk, on which his slate was; a small library, filled with random books that he never really had to chose in the first place.

Most strange of all was a framed picture hung at the wall. Link decided to approach it and observe what it was depicting in order to make his mind a bit clearer.

In the middle of the image was him, albeit much younger. He had yet to get his last growth burst and beard in the time period of that picture. Looking at the rest of the individuals allowed him to remember who they were. Right beside him was a strange red woman. She was frail and had a surprised look on her face. On closer inspection, Link could discern her fish-like features. She was a Zora. Mipha?

Then, as he continued to observe, he could see the feathered fellow with an angry look, the archer Revali, as well as the tall and tanned Gerudo known as Urbosa, looking down upon Link with affection. Then, enveloping all of them in a sort of group hug was the gigantic Goron, Daruk. Then, practically glued to Link's younger self by Daruk's embrace, was…

Zelda.

Upon recognizing this particular face, the Hylian suddenly got a slight headache, right as he looked around some more. He knew where he was, now.

He was at home, in Hyrule.

But this was impossible… what about Bernie, and Jonas, and all those people he met since he left? Was it all…

"Link? You're awake already!"

His mental panic was somewhat slowed down when he heard a charming and calming voice calling out to him. He then glanced in the voice's direction and gasped. The blonde hair, the youthful and radiant visage…

Zelda.

"Are you alright? You look off." Said the princess in the same calm tone that she had spoken in earlier while the Hero of Hyrule felt his heart sink in more and more.

"I'm… I'm not…" Were the only things that he could muster in his shocked state.

"Aw, look at yourself. Even after defeating the Calamity, you still end up panicking like that over nothing… come here."

Then, Zelda came to him and wrapped him up with a warm embrace. In response to this unsolicited mark of affection, however, Link instinctively pushed her away, which did not seem to bother her, as she simply began to walk down the stairs to the dining room.

"Today will be pretty busy. We will be talking with Sidon about the Zora's part in Hyrule's new united government. Let's eat breakfast first, okay?"

Too dazzled to argue, Link simply complied and followed her, as if he was being forced to by an external force. When they arrived at the table in Link's living room, however, he soon realized to his horror that there were a few more people at home than he had realized. Indeed, sitting down were four more people.

Revalli, Urbosa, Daruk and Mipha, all together, and staring right back at him. However, there was something wrong about them. They all had grotesque wounds scarring them, almost beyond recognition, and Link could only know it was them because of a vague gut feeling.

As he gasped in disgust at the deformed figures of his friends, Zelda turned to him with a smile, as if inviting him to sit down as well. When he did not move, Revalli took parole.

"_You could at least spend some time with us now, after this little escapade of yours."_

Then, it was Urbosa's turn…

"_Hmph. After getting us like this, he can burn for all I care."_

Then Daruk's…

"_Honestly, I wish you could have at least tried to stay a bit longer to clean up your mess."_

Finally, Mipha spoke up.

"_Do you not even feel shame after killing us, Link? I thought you loved us. Then you run away like this? Are you going to kill them too?"_

"What?" Link asked out in shock. "I never…"

"YES, YOU DID!" Shrieked Zelda, suddenly grabbing his neck with such strength that he could not get off. "I WAS STUCK THERE FOR ONE HUNDRED YEARS, AND WHAT DID YOU DO AFTER THAT? WHAT DO I GET FOR WAITING FOR YOU?"

"No, I did not abandon you, I was done there…" Pleaded the Hero, to no avail.

"You abandoned Bernie, though. Did you not?" Asked Zelda, with a much calmer tone, while still strangling Link. "You knew what would happen when you did it."

Upon those words, the delicate-looking princess threw Link to the ground, before she went back for his neck while the poor man was struggling for his life.

"No! I did not! I tried to help!"

* * *

Fodlan year: 1180

Harpstrings Moon

When he opened his eyes, the first that was registered into Jeritza's vision was the warm color that the Officers' Academy's sky was adopting in the early morning, despite the clouds that were beginning to agglomerate. Despite it being nearly six in the morning, his eyes felt sore and his pupils heavy, signs of yet another restless night.

He took his time standing up. He did not like to rush things when he could help it, as it only brought in unnecessarily stress that he had no need for. Once he was done getting out of his bed, he scanned his room as he did each morning, in search of any change in the otherwise familiar scenery.

After this quiet check-up, the first thing he did was to walk up to his personal desk, which had a nicely framed mirror mounted on it, and observed his reflection in silence. His hair, while neatly cleaned every day, had gone messy in his nightly agitation, so he took the time to comb it back into the way it was supposed to be.

Then, his inspection went to his eyes, cold and stern, and he remained immobile for a moment as he stared into his own glare. After this, he quickly reached for the white mask that he had discarded on the desk the day before and put it on, hiding away any sign of fatigue.

Now that he wore this veil, he was no longer the real Jeritza, but merely a toned down version of himself, one that was capable of living amongst civilization with relative ease, for however long he could.

Done with his routinely self-checkup, Jeritza changed from his nightly pajamas to his usual daily attire while he took a few deep breaths in order to remain as serein as possible before he went to give his lessons. He was having the Golden Deer this morning, and if the stories he heard were of any indication, then they were in dire need of proper training.

A small sigh of relief escaped him as he thought of his consistent schedule. Not only was he allowed to perform the only activity which he actually liked, but it also permitted him to keep his… _other_ side into check until it was really needed.

Lastly, right as he was about to leave his room, he gave a glance to a long object, which had been wrapped in some sort of protective cloth, which had been put resting on one of the bedroom's corners. Under this layer of fabric was his latest purchase at Anna's company the Lance of Sariel. This little beauty of outsider craftsmanship had been a wonderful addition to his collection of deadly weapons.

Getting his eyes off his newest finding, the instructor exited the cramped space that was his bedroom in order to go prepare his class.

As the cloudy sky shone in light grey over the monastery of Garreg Mach, the training arena found itself filled with energy, as all of the peculiar students of the Golden Deer had arrived to have their class. Immediately, Byleth and Jeritza had shared the youngsters between them in order to monitor their training effectively. As a result, the former mercenary would have Leonie, Marianne and Ignatz while the masked instructor would take Raphael, Lorenz and Hilda. Lysithea had wanted nothing to do with either, as she preferred to train her magical endurance, as Byleth had suggested days prior.

Claude, for his part, had expressed the desire to have the outsider Link as his mentor for the day. Having seen the display the latter did to Ashe, Jeritza had simply assumed that the young Riegan had deemed the Hylian as the best suited person to teach him and accepted. Of course, with Claude, nothing was as it seemed.

The truth was that his research on the blonde outsider was going slow. After all, he only had the latest hours of the day free to do it, and during these he needed to be as attentive as possible, and it turned out that to stay focused when your body already craves sleep is not an easy task. As such, he had decided that he would try to get relevant information on the man himself. He also had some dirt to dig up about the Church, so he couldn't afford to waste too much time on who was merely an oddity.

When he got the confirmation that his request for today's mentoring had been accepted, Claude bowed to his instructor with a smile while telling him his gratitude before he went to the back of the area, where Jeritza told him that Link had gone to earlier.

When he got a glimpse of the Hylian, the tanned archer was taken slightly aback by what he saw. Instead of standing straight and grinning while observing everyone passing by like he normally did, Link was sitting with his back resting on a lonely pillar while he contemplated the heavily clouded sky.

In order to attract his attention, Claude coughed slightly in his fist to make some noise. Sure enough, it was sufficient to make the blonde man's head turn to look in his direction. Heavy bags under his eyes betrayed extreme tiredness and his gaze was distant.

"Oh, you want to train with me, kid?" Asked the Hylian, forcing a smile.

"Yeah, I thought that you could get me some advice…" Claude asked before examining his interlocutor's state closer. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Ha, yes. Just missed some sleep tonight. You know how it is." The older man responded. He then began to stand up after rubbing his eyes. "Don't worry for me, I'm fine."

Semi-satisfied with Link's explanation, Claude went back to the sanded grounds with his temporary mentor following him before he made a demonstration of his shooting skills. After flawlessly hitting the middle of the target a few times, Link made a show of his with moving and jumping like he had shown Ashe the previous day. Unlike the freckled young man, however, the heir of House Riegan turned out to be quite steady with his aim, managing to perform a few acrobatics of his own, including shooting while upside-down!

"Quite impressive." Admitted Link, slowly getting back to his usual, care-free attitude. "You must have practiced a lot when you were a child, did you?"

"I won't lie, I have. My family has quite the history with warfare and weaponry. On my father's side, I mean." Said Claude, not without pride. He then profited of this occasion. "Since you think that I'm pretty good already, I was wondering about something. You think you could tell me a bit about your home region, Hyrule I think?"

"You want me to tell you about Hyrule?" Repeated the Hylian, before his shrugged half-heartedly. "You know what? Fine. I'm not really in the mood for crazy stunts today."

Smiling slightly, the young Riegan's gaze followed Link as the latter went to search for the rocky edge of the sanded grounds, which formed some sort of step up from the rest of the area, and sat on it. Claude approached him slowly.

"So, you want me to tell you about what, exactly? There are so many differences between Fodlan and Hyrule, I could be here for days."

"Why don't you begin with the power system?" Claude suggested, the tanned boy tilting his had to the side as he prepared to listen closely. "Who is in control?"

"Ah." Was all that Link said at first, like a sigh. "Well, over a century ago, the Kingdom of Hyrule was led by a royal family who bore the name of Hyrule themselves. I don't remember the name of the king, but the Princess was called Zelda. There were also probably a lot of nobles who did pretty much what yours do today, bickering among themselves and doing petty mischief."

"Okay, I get it. You said, 'over a century', though? What happened?"

"The Calamity happened."

The Hylian went silent for a moment before he continued, with Claude avoiding adding pressure onto him.

"Imagine a dark and violet, deformed pig, with enormous tusks and a large, gaping mouth. Now, imagine it to be the size of the entire monastery, and you get an idea of the kind of thing that ravaged my homeland.

It was said that at the time, four champions, each representing a different race of the kingdom, were chosen in order to pilot formidable weapons that would be enough to obliterate the thing when it showed its ugly mouth. With them, the Hylian Princess and her personal Knight fought during its rampage."

Another silence.

"One made it out alive."

While Link was telling the story, the young Riegan had sit beside him and was giving all of his attention to him. He was genuinely beginning to get hooked by the legend of Hyrule's downfall.

"The Princess, Zelda, had access to a powerful artefact that allowed her to seal the demonic entity away, and she held up until the next hero could weaken it enough so she could banish it for good." Then, the Hylian man looked to his interlocutor. "To answer your question, now the different races of the kingdom rule themselves, for the most part in communities. There is the Zora race and their king, the Rito and their chieftain, the Gerudo and their queen, the Sheika and Goron and their elder, and the Hylians and their various mayors, company owners or whoever can lead the best."

"Hold on a second, you're saying that Hylians are their own race? Then, who are the rest? Outsiders?"

"No. The Hylian race is mostly alike to your own kind, kid. We just have pointier ears sometimes. The Gerudo are a race of warrior women who only have boys very sporadically, and they marry men from other races. The Sheika have white hair and live for very long, the Rito are bird-like, the Zora fish-like, and the Gorons are literally living rocks." Noticing the incredulous stare that Claude was giving him, Link grinned and closed his eyes. "I'm not making it up, I'll show you proof later."

"Oh, I would love to see it, that's for sure." Admitted the young Riegan. "Though, how would you describe the relations between the people? The fish, the bird, the rock… do they live in harmony?"

"You could say that. There is absolutely no central force that I'm aware of, so everyone is on their own. However, everything that existed before is in ruins and needs to be rebuilt, so no one really thinks of causing trouble, apart from the Yiga." Under Claude's questioning stare, he elaborated. "They are rogue Sheika, who followed the Calamity like you people do with your Seiros god or whatever. They haven't reappeared in years, though, so that's good."

"So, what you're saying is… that it took an apocalypse to bring people together?" Asked Claude, a bit uneasy. He then quickly rectified himself. "No, that's not it. I think that everyone gets along because they have something to build and to move towards to. The future of their lands, prosperity… Is this it?"

"Pretty much. I will admit that seeing the sort of evil things that people are capable of in Dagda, Brigid and Fodlan surprised me quite a bit."

"It must have. Can I ask you a last question, Link?" After the latter acquiesced, Claude continued. "Who were _you_ before you left? You look like someone who has seen a lot of things."

"Maybe I do." Said Link, shrugging dismissively. "I will tell you something, though… I haven't been traumatized much by the fights I have had. Some of my fondest memories are memorable battles. Sometimes, the worst part of battle are the people that you could not save."

After this, yet another moment of silence.

"After this battle in Remire, I saw this young girl, with the white hair…"

"Edelgard?"

"Yes, that. I saw her drenched in her own blood, and… it could have been way worse. Tell me, have your friends ever died on you?"

Now, the atmosphere was getting dense as Link's question caused Claude to be a bit uncomfortable.

"No?"

"Keep it this way. This peace in Fodlan, preserve it as much as you possibly can, because when it's gone, then people who counted on you will die. War is the worst thing."

"You seem to know this by experience, and with the sort of skills you displayed at Remire, I wouldn't be surprised if you were a very well-known hero back home." Claude added, before he reformulated his previous question. "The thing is… what sort of war did you fight, if Hyrule is rebuilding and your own troublemakers have pretty much disappeared? Were there invaders from outside?"

As the young Riegan was talking, Link began to scowl and gave the youngster an annoyed glare. However, his expression soon turned to resignation as he resumed recounting his homeland's story.

"No, Hyrule is not an easy place to invade. We are so isolated by geography that it took me three years just to find a way out. There's something I forgot to tell you when I spoke of the Calamity. While she was preventing it from coming back, Princess Zelda has waited for over a century before someone could finally slay the beast." Under Claude's stupefied stare, Link continued. "Somehow, she had taken a different form to fight the evil entity, so she could stay alive for so long."

"So, if this is right, this means that this thing has only been vanquished very recently, right?" Asked the tanned archer.

"Yes. In the meantime, there were a lot of possessed monsters to fight, and many people of all sorts banded together to fight off this Calamity, or 'Ganon', as the Gerudo called it. I was one of these people."

"Wow." Claude commented. "You know, it is strange to think that just anyone you meet could turn out to have faced unthinkable things. 'Everyone is the hero of their own story', as they say. I'm wondering, though… If you were such a big deal back in the day and you helped to save your kingdom from annihilation, then why are you here, far from home?"

Right after he asked, however, Claude felt as if he had crossed a line for the blonde outsider, as the older man had first stared at him with a blank expression. No anger or even annoyance in this stare, just emptiness. Then, his glance drifted slowly over the arena where the others were training, and he eventually looked down and shook his head.

"I am not a man who can just settle down so easily. A few years after we defeated the Calamity, I began to feel empty, as monsters were becoming scarce. I had nothing to fight against, and it drove me crazy. All the others, they were either a prince, a queen, or another important part of their little society, so I was alone in this sort of… situation. I came to Dagda, then Brigid, and then Fodlan, in search for excitement, novelty." A sad smile appeared on his face briefly as he paused. "I have managed to stay in one place for a while, though."

Realizing that he was beginning to shed a small tear, Link interrupted his rant and wiped his face clean before he stood up.

"I think I have talked enough of Hyrule for today. I'll show you some pictures another time, I'll be taking a break. Why don't you go train with your friends over there?"

"I sure will. Let me tell you something, though…" Claude responded. "I hope that you find what you've been looking for. Until then, I'm sure Garreg Mach should have enough oddities for you to stay entertained. Don't you agree?"

At this, Link smiled sincerely and nodded slowly.

"Yeah, it sure will."

* * *

As Lorenz took the wooden spear that he would use in this morning's training session, he evaluated the thing's balance before he glanced in the direction of Raphael, who was picking up one of the training axes.

He then proceeded to strike a few stances in order to coordinate his practice swings better and tried to focus his entire mind on this unique activity. Thus, for a good five minutes, he was able to perform some moves that he was eager to try out during the mock battle with the knights of Seiros in only a few days now.

Eventually, though, his concentration was broken when he caught the sight of Claude von Riegan, sitting on a stony edge of the arena while discussing with this blonde outsider, obviously slacking off in the process. In this single instant, all serenity that inhabited the noble young man was gone, evaporated, and he began to mumble to himself about the tanned boy. Suddenly, the booming voice of Raphael came out from behind him.

"Hey, Lorenz, what are you talking about?"

Surprised by the unexpected arrival of the huge blonde man, Lorenz turned around and had to look up at his interlocutor's face – which was, at least to him, slightly degrading.

"I do not recall speaking to you, Raphael." Retorted the self-proclaimed noblest member of the Golden Deer.

"Ah, sorry. It's just that seeing you being all angry like that and not moving, I thought you had something on your mind." The bigger student explained himself with an innocent tone which Lorenz could not think of as anything other than sincere.

"Actually, I was thinking of Claude." Admitted the violet-haired man.

"Again?" Asked Raphael rhetorically. "Why do you hate him so much? Did he do something to you?"

"No. It is much more important than such petty matters. You would be forgiven for not understanding."

"Come on, buddy. I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I'll try to understand. If you have something on your mind, you shouldn't keep it all in." Raphael commented. Lorenz, for his part, decided that he could afford to share his worries with someone for once instead of taking the burden himself.

"Fine. You must know how the Alliance works, at least? The Riegan, Gloucester, Ordelia, Goneril and Edmund Houses form a council with the leader."

"Yeah… I knew that." Said Raphael after a bit of effort to recall what little he knew of politics.

"Well, with the sudden death of the son of Duke Riegan's son, it seemed as though their House was eventually going to collapse. My father, Count Gloucester, would have then taken the lead of our nation." Upon seeing Raphael nodding while listening, Lorenz continued. "However, only a little while ago, we have Claude here who comes out of nowhere, with a Crest of Riegan and ready to take the role of leader of the Alliance all of a sudden. Do you not think of it as suspect?"

"Well…" The muscled blonde tried to come up with a worthwhile contribution to the conversation. "Doesn't he have the Crest? I mean, that's all you guys think matters, right?"

"It is definitively important, yes, but my problems with our House leader goes deeper than this. His lineage is not questionable. No one could simply spawn the Riegan bloodline's Crest out of nowhere. However, it alone doesn't make a good leader. Do you understand?" He then noticed his interlocutor's questioning expression and sighed. "Duke Riegan had a daughter, who has disappeared many years ago. She is Claude's mother. However, while the identity of his father has ever been found, I am convinced that he is an outsider."

His voice then turned bitter as he spoke again.

"With his skin color, I wouldn't be surprised if he was an Almyran, on top of this."

"Okay, I get it, but what does it have to do with being the leader of the Alliance?" Retorted the mountain of muscles of a man while he scratched his head.

"What? Think a little! We have a complete stranger who appears out of the blue to take the highest position of the Leicestian government! No one really knows him, and from all the evidence currently available, we can assume that he never stepped a foot in Fodlan in his childhood! How can someone like this be trusted with such an important role? Even if nothing of this mattered, how do we know that he can lead _anything_? It is not easy. Let's take you for example, you could not hold your parents' business, as I've learned, right?"

"Leave my family's stuff out of this, please." Asked the gentle giant with a slight frown. "I sold our things so me and my sis could live for a while."

Realizing that he had just stepped on very personal matters, Lorenz took a regretful expression.

"Yes, pardon me for my rudeness, but then you must understand my doubts about Claude?"

"Well, I do get where you're coming from, but we're here for a year, right?" Lorenz nodded. "Then, why don't you give him a chance? If he's good, then we'll see it, right?"

"I… Yes, I suppose you are not wrong, but my point is that we shouldn't look at outsiders for our very first choice in future Leaders! Who would you prefer, an outsider who neglects his studies or a groomed nobleman who understands his nation best?"

"I don't know." Admitted Raphael. "Though, I would begin by getting to know them. So far, both of you look like pretty good people, so I'm not sure who would be best."

"Ah, yes, of course." Lorenz sighed. "Charisma can gather masses without effort, and Claude certainly doesn't lack any of it. I just hope that this fiasco does not end in the ruin of Leicester."

* * *

While Claude was learning about Link's homeland and Lorenz was complaining about him, Byleth had begun to tutor her self-assigned students for the period. For a good hour, she had shown some basic stances to Marianne without getting too much in-depth. Indeed, the young woman was still very unsure of her own skills and Byleth found herself having trouble to teach her effectively. Since Hilda, Raphael and Lorenz, who were under Jeritza' tutelage, were rather talented already in their respective weapon expertise, the new teacher gave away her training to the masked instructor for the day.

For now, the new professor was practicing her lance skills with Leonie. While Byleth was undoubtedly remarkable with a sword, she hardly had any practical experience wielding any other kind of weapon and, as a result, this seance was proving to be beneficial to both teacher and student.

The two's wooden lances clashed continuously as they performed a choregraphed exercise, where when one of the two women would strike, the other would position their weapon to block it. This went on for a good while, with the two training partners trying to break each other's defenses, and none of them was ready to give up just yet.

Eventually, however, Byleth's inexperience with lances ended up causing her to slightly miscalculate the position that she needed to assume in order to block a particular attack from Leonie, resulting in the first successful hit of this sort-of duel. With her chest puffing from both pride and the effort she was putting into this training session, Leonie took a step backward.

"Hey, this was not bad, but I guess that I really am beginning to catch up to you after all, huh?" Exclaimed the redhead, spinning her lance in her hands.

"You have progressed much, indeed. Have you learned from another instructor?" Asked Byleth, as she assessed her current foe's fighting style and, thus, weaknesses.

"Not since you and Sir Jeralt went away. Nope, I came this far with just his teachings and sheer force of will!" Boasted Leonie, before she took a combat pose, indicating that she was ready to engage once again.

Thus, wood clashed once again in rapid succession. This time, however, Byleth had had the opportunity to analyze Leonie's patterns, and as such the fiery redhead realized that she was having a much harder time to pierce her teacher's defense. In fact, the new professor was becoming bolder, and her more ample movement and seemingly abandoned self-protection would look rather risky to an onlooker.

The truth was, however, that every attack of Byleth's was being meticulously calculated in order to strike right where Leonie would have most trouble blocking according to her habits. From how she had seen the redhead fight right before, the blue-haired woman was able to predict her foe's next movements and act accordingly. After a dozen seconds of incessant assaults on her teacher's part, Leonie began to become frustrated, which troubled her focus and made her even more predictable. A few attacks later, despite the expertise gap between the two women, Byleth managed to hit Leonie right in the side of her ribcage, cutting the redhead's respiration off for a few seconds and effectively scoring the second hit of the spar.

"You… Ah, Damnit! How do you always get so much better in so little time?" Complained Leonie, who was holding a hand on the side of her chest with a little hint of pain of her face.

"I'm not getting better. You are simply letting your guard drop." Byleth explained with her usual deadpan expression. "If you want to become a better fighter, then you need to anticipate your opponent's patterns and exploit their weaknesses. For example, when fights take a certain time, you act impulsively. When you are winning, it causes you to lose your edge, and when you're losing it is merely aggravating your situation"

"Ah. I've never had this problem with others before." Remarked the redhead with a frown.

"That is because battling is what I excel at. When you have fought before you could muster complete sentences, you have to."

"No mention having Jeralt as your dad and mentor! Really, you have so much luck…"

Now, Byleth's facial features hardened a little. Leonie had been a great fan of her father from the day they met several years ago, and if she had to be frank, her always fawning over him was becoming annoying.

"I told you before, it is a matter of perspective. It is the only life I know, so I have no idea if I would have preferred another lifestyle. To me, my father has been a great mentor, but he also represents my standard of a mercenary."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. It's just…" Leonie then paused, with her expression becoming a bit sadder. "I have worked so hard to come here, you know? So I could make Sir Jeralt proud, and so I could fight bad people like he did someday."

Since the redhead did not seem to want to resume their spar any time soon, Byleth contented herself with standing still and listening to what she had to say.

"Byleth, could I ask you something?" Leonie asked. Byleth actually felt strange to be called by her first name, since in the monastery, everyone seemed to want to call her some variation of 'Professor' or 'Teacher', and her father still called her 'Kid'. It made sense, though, as she and Leonie had actually known each other well as teenagers.

"Yes?" She responded, ready to listen.

"You know what they say about Crests, and how important they are… it's not right, right?" Leonie then shook her head a little. "I don't know, it just seems a bit shallow to judge someone's worth by their ancestry."

"Personally, I have never cared much for this myself." Admitted Byleth.

"Yeah. Screw them and their stupid rules. We're going to rock their world by our own merit, Crest or not." Leonie exclaimed, confidence coming back into her facial features, before she looked uncertainly at Byleth. "You're Crestless, right?"

At first, the new professor was going to respond affirmatively to Leonie's question, but then her personal meeting with Hanneman made her change her mind.

"Actually, I do bear a Crest. We're trying to see what it is exactly."

At this, Leonie's expression passed from one of pride and determination to one of utter disappointment. Byleth assumed that the redhead had wished her to be Crestless so they could be proper rivals, sort of. Then, though, Leonie grinned and brought her hands to her hips.

"Well, then, just one more reason for me to surpass you. Someday, we'll set things straight for good, and we'll see who's become the best of the best."

* * *

In Garreg Mach, there were few places where one could enjoy some tranquility, due to the activities of the staff, the movements of the Knights, or the banter of the students. The Gardens, however, were generally exempt of all the uproar that afflicted the rest of the monastery. As such, those who wished to study in peace, to have a tranquil tea party, or who simply wanted a quiet nap would find an unoccupied spot of the Gardens.

In this late morning, this was the case for Link. Trying to calm his mind after his agitated night, he had sought the peace which reigned in this place.

No matter what he did, however, these images would simply not go away. Visions of the accusatory, horrifyingly disfigured forms of those who had been his companions, born from some nightmare he had from very long ago, were still haunting him, no matter how much he tried to forget them.

It made no sense, and Link knew it. When he fought the Calamity and communicated with them for last time, they were on nothing else than good terms. He had avenged them, and they had been able to pass on in peace. He could have done nothing more for them, and they had already shown him their gratitude. So then, why couldn't he get rid of them?

As he was reflecting on a way to stop these visions for good, something moving in his field of view caught his attention. Lifting his head and his gaze, he noticed a blonde woman who was slowly approaching him. With her tight green clothing and generous bust, she would have probably had made quite the impression on most men – and probably some women, too.

However, being neither interested in these things nor in the mood for pointless banter, he tried to ignore the feminine figure and went back to his thoughts. Shortly after, however, the woman cleared her throat and bent slightly forward in order to speak to him.

"My, my! You must be mister Link, am I right?" She said in a rather seducing tone. With this evidence that she wanted to speak to him, Link sighed and lifted his head again. "I am Professor Manuela, teacher of the Black Eagles. May I speak to you?"

"You already are." Responded the Hylian with a half-annoyed and half-tired expression.

"Very well. Could you come to my office so we could speak in private? Maybe you would appreciate a glass of wine?" Manuela proposed with a smile. Link, though, was not impressed.

"I am perfectly fine here. Speak lower if you don't want people to hear you." Said the Hylian before he added: "And I'm going to be blunt. I'm not interested."

Looking slightly offended, Manuela took in a deep breath to stop herself from returning the rudeness.

"I wasn't going to… Ugh, fine. Let's do it here!" She then sat near Link before she continued. "It is about Bernadetta."

At the mention of the young Varley's name, Link suddenly perked up and glanced unsurely at the professor.

"I supposed that you would react as such. I have caught word of the… reunion(?) that you two have had during my class' training. If it is not too indiscreet, could you tell me from where you know her? I would ask her, but you must know how she is with most people."

"…" The Hero of Hyrule hesitated slightly before he responded. "We've met a few years ago. Why?"

"Well, considering how familiar the two of you seem to be, it is reasonable to suspect that you spent quite some time together. Actually, that is why I am here."

"Go on." Said Link, moving his hand in a circular motion to encourage her to continue.

"Bernadetta has been a… difficult one to work with so far. She will do her study well, but it is nearly impossible to get her to participate in class and her training is lacking as well. However, when she saw you, Edelgard told me that she acted almost normally for the first time since she got here."

"It's really that bad?" Asked Link with a worried look.

"Yes, it is, but only when you are not there. Even for the class in this day's afternoon, she was far less nervous. For this reason, I would like to ask you to come and accompany her from times to times, so she could gain some psychological support from someone she seems to trust."

At this, Manuela noticed that Link's usually confidant expression had been replaced with a mix of resignation and worry.

"I… Why not?" Responded the Hylian. "I still don't have much to do here for now, so I am free. Will the school accept this?"

"I will ask Seteth, but I am certain that he will have no objection. He is strict, but he has the students' well-being in his heart."

"Alright, then. I would be here just to sit and watch over her, or…"

"Well, if you wish, I see no objection to you offering your help to teach the rest of the class. Apparently, you have helped Jeritza for a few days now."

Link nodded and then contemplated the sky as he reflected on the idea. To interact with these youngsters and to help Bernie out, that would certainly help him change his thoughts. At least, more than simply ruminating the same unpleasant ones over and over again.

"If Rhea's minion doesn't object, then I will help." The said with a smile forming on his face.

"Perfect!" Exclaimed the busty teacher, before she got up and began to leave for the upcoming lunch break. At this moment, Link turned to her.

"Just a last thing…" The professor turned as well with a questioning look. "I'm sorry for when I told you I wasn't interested. I wasn't in a good mood. It isn't anything against you, I'm just not into these things in general."

"Oh?" Manuela was now becoming curious. "Leaning towards your own kind, mister?"

"Meh." The Hylian shrugged. "More like towards none at all."

As the professor walked away with an understanding nod, Link leaned back and thought more in depth about what had just been discussed here. Of course, spending time with Bernadetta was going to be sweet after all this time, but to help even more with the training of the Black Eagles? This could actually get interesting.

Maybe Claude was right, after all.

* * *

The wind was blowing hard in the vast crevasses of Zanato, as it usually did. This, however, did not seem to bother the activities of the several men and women who had established camp in the forbidden holy lands.

Unlike the few, feeble tents that had been erected when they first arrived, the bandits who had stayed had taken the time to fortify their temporary homes, if only for the sake of comfort. As some of them were still working, a few others were on the lookout for the infamous Black Beasts who infested the place. They had been told by their former employers that this particular emplacement was relatively safe, but after the Flame Emperor left them to be slaughtered by the Church, they couldn't be sure of whether they had been sincere.

Working on a crude and self-made map detailing the nearest patterns of the Red Canyon were Kostas and one of his men, who had just come back from a patrol. The chief of the bandits rubbed his beard as his underling made his report.

"A few hundred meters south, there is a pack of these monsters, but they never come toward here. However, we should look out for the birds, they are everywhere."

"Ah, damnit." Complained the bearded thief, sighing. "We'll have these things on our backs on top of the knights. Speaking of them, does it look like they found us yet?"

"They know we're in the canyon, that's for sure. I saw a group of knights checking up on the west." The smaller outlaw revealed, causing Kostas to facepalm. "At least, they are not coming here, so they don't know where in the canyon we are, exactly."

"And Greg? Did he come back with his group?" Asked Kostas.

"Not yet. I hope they didn't get caught."

"Yeah, because we don't have enough food to wait until another bunch comes back with supplies. If they stayed low like I told him, though, they should have been fine." Said the leader, looking up at the cliffsides that surrounded their camp.

At this moment, fortunately, one of the group's vigils alerted the rest of the gang of said Greg's return. Sighing from relief, Kostas slowly got up and went to receive his men. When he looked at the returning group, however, he realized that a few of them were missing. Greg was there, sure enough, with his own beard and size which made him look like a taller, but slimmer version of his boss, but at least three or four of the original members of the supplies gathering party were now gone.

"Hey, what happened to you guys? I told you to stay low!" Exclaimed the bearded leader with a frown.

"You try to steal food and weapons without getting noticed! It's just that we met some resistance and some of us didn't make it." Replied the tall bandit, much to Kostas' frustration.

"So you're telling me that you've killed people in those towns?" Muttered the leader of the thieves, grinding his teeth in anger.

"So what? Since when do _you_ care about lives? It's because we tried to kill these kids that we're here in the first place!"

"AND I STILL DON'T, YOU IDIOT!" Screamed the chief before sucker-punching his underling right in the jaw, sending him to the ground instantly. "I was trying to make the Church give up on us! We hadn't actually harmed their students, and we're in a freaking monster nest! Now that _you_ had the _brilliant idea_ to go around and kill folks right under their nose, they're going to send the entire order of Seiros on us!"

A moment of uncomfortable silence fell on the entire camp, only disturbed by the blowing wind of Zanato and the pained cries of Greg. After a while, one of the returning young men spoke up nervously.

"Now… what do we do? Are we going to die for sure?"

"If you were afraid to die, you should have become a farm boy instead of an outlaw, kid." Responded Kostas without an ounce of empathy. "And thanks to this cretin, the Church will never let us get away scott free. Plus, security will be reinforced in the nearby towns, so we won't be able to steal food there anymore."

"So we need to get away as soon as possible." Concluded a scarred woman, crossing her arms.

"We could do that." Kostas agreed. "We'll have to explore the canyon fast so we can find a hidden path or something."

"Wait!" Exclaimed the nervous youngster. "I've just got an idea!"

"…" Everyone's eyes fell on the boy as he spoke, until Kostas uttered: "Yeah?"

"It was that fire king guy who wanted us to kill the students, right?" He said, and his leader frowned, wondering where he was going with this. "If we ratted them out to the Knights, maybe they would let us go?"

Once again, near complete silence. The battle-worn woman glanced at Kostas and scowled.

"You're not really considering _that_, are you?" She asked out to her leader, who was currently deep in reflection. "We would end up incarcerated for life at the very best. And that would be unlikely. Plus, if we do that, the Flame Emperor and his cronies will kill us all."

"But! Not if we have the knights with us! If he was strong enough to fight the Church, he wouldn't have hired us!" Argued the youngster.

"Enough!" Roared Kostas, shutting both of his underlings up. "We're going to try to run away first, but if we're caught, we'll rat this prick out as a last resort. He betrayed us, so there's no shame in doing so."

The rest of the gang stood still and most of them nodded slowly in agreement with their chief's logic. Despite being a brute, he had managed to lead them effectively for years, and his judgement had rarely failed him. Trusting the Flame Emperor was a notable exception, of course.

"Now, it's still early." He then addressed the man who had been sent as a scout earlier. "Bring me to where the knights are. We'll try to see where they're going. As for the rest of you…"

He then numbered just how many members of his gang were left. Only twelve.

"Sophie, you and the others will go to the south to check on the monsters there. If they're coming closer, we're moving camp. Greg, you stay here and look out for the birds. If they try to steal our resources, slaughter them. That's all you seem to be good for anyways."

After a dismissive groan for the tall bandit, the gang began to move according to their role in the plan. The youngest member then uttered a sigh.

"Please, Saint Seiros, help us pass through this."

All that his prayer got him, however, was a smack behind the head by one of his fellows.

* * *

In the Archbishop's conference room, Lady Rhea was currently busy praying to the Goddess for the benediction of whoever she thought would need it at the moment. Only herself would know. None of the guards appointed to the room were making any sound, making the ambiance extremely serene.

This calm, however, found itself disturbed by rapid footsteps coming from outside, followed by the large door being hurriedly opened. Offended by the intrusion, Rhea jumped back up and scowled at the newcomer, only to calm herself down when she realized that it was simply Seteth coming in for a report.

"Greetings, Seteth. What are you here to tell me about today?"

"Greetings, Lady Rhea." The bureaucrat replied, bowing to his superior. "I have a report from the searching party that we sent to the Red Canyon. They believe the bandits to be hiding in either the northern or eastern part of Zanato. With the monsters present, however, it could take up to a week before they are actually found. I have ordered an embargo to be put into place so they cannot flee until then. Shall we launch an offensive to retrieve them sooner?"

"No. The new professor and her students will take care of this matter easily enough… There is no need to waste resources on such matters." Said Rhea, although Seteth could tell that she was hiding something from him by her slight frown and more hesitant speech pattern.

"Lady Rhea, could I get a private audience from you?" Asked the second-in-command, looking around at the soldiers in the room. After some time, the Archbishop nodded and the two went to her personal office. Once arrived, Seteth sighed and closed the door behind them.

"Rhea, there are some questions that I must ask you." Said the bureaucrat, abandoning the formality that he was sticking to in public. "I would like you to tell me why you are letting these assassins stay in Zanato for any more time."

"Oh, this is all you were worrying about?" Rhea asked back with the serenity that most people knew her from. "Since they are not a threat to us or the towns anymore, we will let the students carry on their mission as we had decided."

"Rhea." Now, Seteth's voice was stern. It sounded more like he was scolding a family member rather than addressing the Archbishop. "We both perfectly know that you would never let anyone step into the canyon without immediate retaliation. Please tell me what your change of heart is about."

"I am _not_ letting them go without punishment, Seteth." Rhea responded with harshness in her voice. "I simply trust our new professor to be capable of handling a few bandits, like she did with her father."

"Yes, and that is another thing I was wondering about. _Who_ is Byleth? Why entrusting her with such an important position and giving her such a… holy mission. We already had Jeritza who could have fulfilled this role fairly well, so why?"

After this exchange, Seteth and Rhea stood quietly as the bureaucrat was staring at his superior expectantly. The Archbishop, for her part, had turned to face away from her second-in-command and she took in a few deep breaths before she answered.

"It is so Sir Jeralt does not go away again. If his beloved daughter lives and works here, he is going to stay."

"Is this really all there is to it?" Now, Seteth was becoming agitated. "If he really was a faithful as you told me he was, then why did he flee in the first place? What have you done, Rhea?"

"Enough!" Exclaimed Rhea in a tone that managed to make the bureaucrat flinch. She glared daggers at him for a while until she gained back her composure and slowly walked to the door of the office and opened it. Now, there would be no way to have the privacy that they benefited from before. "Now, I believe that our discussion is over. Could you please salute Flayn for me?"

Realizing that Rhea did not have any intention of humoring him any further, Seteth stared at the doorframe for a few seconds before he glanced back at her. It was not accusatory or judgmental, but it was rather a sad and worried look. He nodded to her and bowed.

"Very well. Please excuse me for the inconvenience, Lady Rhea, may the Goddess bless you."

As the second-in-command exited the audience room, Rhea went back to the praying position that she had been in before his arrival. However, she couldn't find the will to pray to the Goddess anymore and retreated to her chambers for the rest of the night.

* * *

**Author's notes:**

**So, I have made this chapter a bit more Link-centered in order to get some new insight on his character. I think I have been straightforward enough about it in the narration (I do not think subtlety to be my forte), so I'll leave it at that. Furthermore, thanks to his connection with Bernie, he will spend more time supervising the Black Eagles. I wonder what Hubert and Edelgard will think of this?**

**Up next chapter: Byleth and her students depart for a mock battle against the Knights of Seiros. Some character banter and finally some action after a few chapters.**

**I have also decided to make this chapter a bit more exposition-ish, because things do need to be established. As a part of this, I have taken the time to explain Lorenz' point of view on Claude, as well as explaining why Rhea lets Kostas and his goons spend an entire month in Zanato despite it being stated that she wants them out as soon as possible.**

**A side note: I know that I haven't given the Blue Lions a lot of spotlight yet. It is because there are a lot of characters in Three Houses (or any FE game in general) and I will not be able to balance them all the time. For the time of the Bandit Arc, they will not appear much. The next one, the Lonato Arc, will give them much more screentime.**

**Finally, as is my habit, I am asking you for your opinion on this chapter. Does Link's internal struggle seem natural enough? How do you find Byleth and Leonie's relationship so far? Do you like what I have done with Kostas? How do you like the Link/Bernie backstory? Any question you want me to address?**

**On this, I wish you all a good start in this new decade. Let's just hope it isn't always the same political turmoil in a new baggage.**


	8. Ch 8 - Bandit Arc, Part 3

Fodlan Year: 1178

Guardian Moon

In the vast plains of the Varley's territories, it was not uncommon for the cold wind of the winter to blow continuously for extended periods of time. This would often result in a perfectly flat layer of snow covering the available scenery, which made the buildings stand out as they protruded from the snowy terrain.

Meanwhile, in the barn that Link had temporarily taken as a place to stay, the violent winds that managed to pass through the planks of wood which constituted the walls created a chilly whistle throughout the building, while the occasional yelling cattle broke the monotony.

Being woken up by a nearby lamb calling out to its mother, the Hylian got up from his makeshift bed made out of hay and brushed his clothes in order to remove any wisp that could have got stuck there during the night. He then looked nearby and observed the various animals who, excited by his movements, had begun to yell incessantly in wait for their morning's ration of food. They looked a bit like the ones he used to see in Hyrule, but the sheep were less dumpy and there seemed to exist a domesticated form of the wild bulls that inhabited his homeland's mountains.

Despite accepting Jonas' invitation to stay at his place for an undetermined period of time, Link had still refused to occupy one of the nobleman's rooms. Maybe if he had been isolated for longer and was desperate for human interaction, then he could have taken the free rent without much issue, but he was not at this point in his life yet.

Getting on some warm clothing from his Sheika Slate, the Hero of Hyrule then exited the badly lit barn and made his way to Jonas' home. Near it were some more habitations for the workers on his fields and for his farm, as well as probably his guard Johnathan. Once arrived, he went to the kitchen and gathered a few ingredients in order to honor a promise he had made.

During the trip from Count Varley's place, it had eventually been brought to light that Link was actually a quite competent cook, and the large noble, gastronome that he was, had insisted on tasting one of his recipes.

This morning, as the Hylian didn't feel like preparing an extra complex meal, he settled to simply do some slithered fruits and skewered meats mixed with mushrooms. Despite the simplicity of the recipes, though, the house was soon filled with the delicious odor of Link's craft. Soon, it was time for breakfast and Jonas and his guard had the opportunity to taste a typical Hylian dish.

"My, I say! This is absolutely delicious!" Exclaimed the younger Varley brother while humming pleasantly as he ate.

"You say this for everything you eat, Sir." Retorted his guard, which caused Jonas to give him an annoyed glare. "I do admit that I find this plate quite good myself…"

Hearing this, Link bowed gratefully at his two 'clients', not without some pride, as he devoured his own ration. He had made a long way, after all, since the barely edible sludge he used to make on the Plateau of Hyrule.

As the three men were eating, however, there came a resounding knock on the front door.

"Do not stop your meal, my friends…" Announced the larger nobleman as he slowly got up. "I shall see what this visit is about. I will be back shortly!"

While Jonas went to the entry hall in order to greet whoever was waiting outside, Link looked over to Johnathan and raised his eyebrows as he asked:

"Hey, since when do you and Jonas know each other? You seem to be quite familiar."

"Ah, we are old friends from school, Link. We were studying at the Officers' Academy, and he managed to convince me to transfer from the Blue Lions to the Black Eagles, and after we graduated, he made me his personal guard."

"Oh, I see." Stated Link as Jonas came back from his little errand. He was reading on a piece of paper with a frustrated frown. "Hey, buddy, what's the matter?"

"… It was the messenger of my brother." Said the noble.

"What? I thought you two didn't talk much…" Link retorted. "Why would he call up on you so soon?"

"Is it…" Johnathan began to ask, and Jonas acquiesced before he even finished his sentence.

"It is about Bernadetta, yes." Said Jonas with a loud sigh. "She's fallen sick again and he wants me to come as soon as possible. Could you go and prepare my supplies, please?"

With a nod, Johnathan got up and immediately went to the second floor of the house as Link kept glancing at the two other men in utter confusion. Seeing this, Jonas explained with a slight annoyance.

"Bernie is a very fragile girl, and it often happens that she needs medical care. At the same time, I have mostly focused my studies on medicine and usage of Faith Magic. I am not an actual doctor, but I can normally handle what she suffers from…"

"So, for Count, you are a convenient and free help for when his daughter becomes sick. What is the problem?"

"The problem, Mister Link, is that Bernie does not suffer from your typical illness. She thinks so, and so does her father, but her pain is totally different. She suffers from her anxiety."

Link's eyes then widened slightly.

"Oh." This was all that the Hylian was capable of muttering.

"Yes, 'Oh' indeed. My damned brother and all that pressure he puts on her." The nobleman then looked at his interlocutor and seemed to have just gotten an idea. "Johnathan was going to stay and take care of the property for the time being, so would you like to accompany me, Mister Link?"

"Why?" Asked Link with a raised eyebrow. "From what social clues I gathered, your brother was not exactly my greatest fan in the place, and your niece didn't seem to like me neither…"

"This is because she is always afraid of strangers. Please, Link, do you remember the story you told us last evening?"

"Yeah, the origins of the Calamity. Demon born from a man, thousands of years ago…"

"Exactly, this one! Bernie doesn't come out of her room often, and she absolutely _adores_ tales like this! If you could tell her one, I am sure that it would make her day…" The noble began to plead, with hopeful eyes. In response, Link simply shrugged.

"Eh. Why not? It's not like I had something more important to do than to make a little girl happy, right?"

"Excellent! Johnathan will come back soon, do you want a horse, this time?" Asked Jonas with a pleased expression.

"Oh, yeah, sure. I've got some experience with those before…"

As the nobleman and his guard prepared the travel to Count Varley's house once again, Link simply finished his breakfast and got his warm clothes back before he began to wonder about what sort of story a warrior like him could tell a teenage girl…

* * *

Fodlan Year 1180

Harpstrings Moon

The early morning of the Black Eagles had debuted simply enough, as the students, Jeritza and Link quickly began the class without much incidents. Jeritza was currently busy sparring with Petra while the Hylian was coaching Bernadetta. Meanwhile, Ferdinand and Caspar wailed on dummies while Linhardt and Dorothea practiced their magic spells and Edelgard and Hubert spoke together.

As the young Varley picked up her training bow and readied it, she looked back at Link unsurely. In response, he gave her a short nod, indicating her that she was doing well so far. She then tended her bow and shot her first arrow. While it landed rather far from the center and barely planted into the target, Link made sure to be as positive as he could.

"That is not bad at all, Bernie!" Exclaimed the Hylian, slightly forcefully.

"No, no… It won't do…" Bernadetta's reaction, however, was not at all what Link had hoped for. "I've gotten even worse than before! I knew it, I…"

"Hey, now. Don't be like that…" Said Link in a kind tone as he walked up behind the mauve-haired girl. "You have just gone a bit rusty, that's all. With practice, it'll come back, you'll see. Now… Take a few deep breaths. You need to keep your aim steady, and panic is not really good for that, usually."

After inhaling and exhaling a few times as demanded, Bernadetta let out a heavy sigh as she picked up another arrow.

"But I'm telling you that I'm not going to be good at it, or just fighting…" She then pointed at her rachitic arms with a despaired expression. "Look at me, how could I ever become something like you?"

"I… You don't need to be anything like me…" Admitted Link, sighing himself. "But when someone is going to try to harm you, wouldn't you like to be the person that can defend herself?"

"No! I would much rather call for help and let someone else deal with it…"

Now, the pair was standing in an impasse, and the Hero of Hyrule was no longer capable of hiding his disappointment, which only further encouraged the fragile girl's current behavior.

"And yet, when…" Link then stopped, reconsidering the example he was going to give, before he resumed. "Listen, Bernadetta. You simply need to practice more. You'll feel much better about yourself when you do."

"And even if I become good… What will it do? I'll just end up ruining everything again. Like I did with you." Retorted the young Varley, which caused Link's head to drop slightly forward.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Bernie, and you will not ever." The Hylian then kneeled down so his gaze could be on Bernadetta's level. "I don't know what others have told you, but I can assure you that I believe in you. Now, please, continue your training a little."

"If I do that…" The fragile girl began to say with a slight pout. "Will you make me a meal like those you did back then?"

"If you do well, I'll go out of my way to make you the greatest plate I have ever done!" Exclaimed the Hylian with a grin. "And then, I'll just keep making better food forever!"

With a slight smile, Bernadetta then nodded and readied her weapon, much to Link' relief. As he had predicted, each one of the few next arrows were shot closer to the target's center than the last.

"Right there! That is more like it! Just some more time and you'll be a true sniper!" Said the Hylian rather joyously as the young Varley blushed under the praise. However, shortly after, Bernadetta noticed something behind Link and adopted much more nervous facial features. Curious, Link turned around and caught the sight of the small brawler, Caspar, who was observing them. The blue-haired boy had been contending himself with standing still, with two training axes in his possession, until Link would be free to talk too.

"Hey there. Wanted something?" Asked Link as his protégé glanced at him worryingly.

"Yep, I did" Said the little blue ball of energy as he stretched slightly. "I wanted to train a bit with someone who used axes, but Edelgard's busy with her friend and Jeritza's busy with Petra… I was thinking about sparring with ya…"

As he listened to the blue-haired boy, Link slowly nodded and looked down at Bernadetta before he patted her shoulder.

"Do you think you can continue a bit without me? If someone comes too close, just scream and I'll come to you, okay?" He then turned back to Caspar and smiled slightly. "You want me to use an axe as well, I guess?"

Then, as the Hylian and the boy discussed about the rules of their little duel, the young Varley took a deep inspiration to calm herself down before she resumed her practice.

"So, one training axe each, with the loser being the first one touched… Sounds fair enough." Said Link once the two finished to determine the rules.

"Yep. I don't know if I can beat someone as strong as you, but it's surely going to be a good fight. Not as if I was fighting my dad, anyway…"

"Your father is a warrior?" Asked the Hylian with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah, Count Bergliez! The Minister of War and one of the toughest men in the entire Empire! I hope I can become just as cool as him one day…" Exclaimed Caspar with pride.

"Well, being able to idolize your dad is a pretty good thing…" Link commented with slight irony as the two placed themselves on the sandy arena. Link held his weapon to his side, ready to swing at any time, while Caspar rather placed it in a defensive manner in front of him. "Ready, kid?"

"You bet!"

Then, Caspar roared as he threw himself forward, managing to take Link by surprise and making the Hylian place his own weapon in order to block his foe's attack. As his first hit was completely stopped, the young Bergliez simply swung his axe a few more times relentlessly. Each time, however, Link would either deflect the blow or take a step backwards to dodge it completely. This little game ended up frustrating the brawler, who tried to overwhelm the instructor's temporary assistant with a down strike.

"Alright, let's see how you take this!"

At the moment that his attack was going to connect with Link's shoulder, however, the Hylian moved to the side so quickly that Caspar was only able to see a blur where his opponent was supposed to be. Conserving his momentum, Link began to spin around with his axe extended away from him, and it was going to hit the young Bergliez tight in the cheek.

All that Caspar had been capable of processing was his axe continuing its route straight to the ground without interruption, instead of hitting Link, and the Hylian suddenly having the blunt end of his weapon right next to his face as a gust of wind went on his cheek. Both from shock and instinct, Caspar froze and glanced at Link, who was bearing a completely deadpan expression.

Then, as a way to end the spar, Link grinned as he performed a quite potent poke on Caspar's face with his axe which, despite the little effort on his part, sent the younger man backwards and forced him to retake his footing.

"Ow, you didn't have to do that…" Complained the brawler, rubbing his cheek.

"I abided by your own rules, kid." Explained the Hylian as he stretched and gave his axe to Caspar.

"So?" Asked Caspar with a confidant frown. "How do you think I was?"

"Honestly?" Link asked back. The blue-haired boy nodded, prompting him to continue. "You were pretty oppressive, but far too reckless. You leave yourself wide open with your attacks. That's how you lost so quickly."

"What? I am aggressive so my enemy doesn't have time to breathe and think!" Retorted Caspar, offended. "You just got lucky and got me with the only attack you made in the whole fight!"

"Alright. I've made only one attack, yes. However, it was precisely calculated. From the way you swing your weapon around, I was able to determine the best moment to strike myself, and I was right." Explained the assistant-instructor. "Also, let's be frank. With your stature, one hit is more than enough to beat you, spar or not."

"And what does _that_ mean?" Asked Caspar again, although with an angry glare this time.

"It means that you cannot afford to leave yourself open to attacks. You're too thin to take damage reliably, and you're too small to physically dominate an opponent. You would have to take a more defensive approach, like me."

"… You don't seem to be someone to know how it is to fight when you're smaller." Stated Caspar defensively as he began to pout. "You need to surprise the enemy, to cut off their options before the fight even starts properly!"

Link then looked down and checked himself out for a short while, noting how much he'd grown after he'd beaten the Calamity.

"Trust me, boy. I've not always been this big. When I fought with large monsters back in the day, I had to be analytical and precise. If I wasn't, then my enemies would have crushed me in a few seconds flat."

"…" The young Bergliez then sighed out and nodded slowly. "Aight, if we assume that you're right, then how could I do to be less open?"

"Let me see…" Link reflected shortly while he rubbed his chin. "Most importantly, your movements are way too ample. You need to make quick strikes so you can return to defense as fast as possible. You should put it a bit into practice. Why don't you go back to your dummy for a moment?"

After nodding in response to Link's proposition, Caspar began to walk back to where he had been training prior to sparring with the Hylian while mumbling to himself the advice that he had been given. As for Link, he firstly amusingly observed the youngster as he began to swing his axe around, trying to make less wide movements. Then, he turned his gaze to Bernadetta, who was dutifully shooting her arrows and, from the marks in the target, Link could tell that she already had gained a bit of her expertise back.

In the middle of his short break, however, Link's reverie was interrupted by Jeritza walking up behind him, startling the Hylian with his soothing, deep voice.

"How are they handling themselves?" He asked, presumably in reference to Caspar and Bernadetta. Link glanced back at the weapon instructor and shrugged.

"The boy is a bit reckless, but he's got the right attitude. He'll just need to practice a bit more…" He then frowned a little as he rubbed his chin. "Do you guys use shields, sometimes?"

"The warriors and soldiers who focus primarly on defense will often have one. Other people wear them, sometimes, but we tend not to, since it lowers our speed." Answered Jeritza slowly.

"Yeah, I said that because this blue-haired kid there could really use an upgrade to his defensive game…"

"What about Varley?" Asked the masked instructor.

"Oh, her? She's just needing some practice to get her skill back." While Jeritza found this comment strange, he did not comment on it and let Link continue. "However, she's a bit weak, physically… I'll have to do something about it."

"What is your intention?"

"I'm going to become her personal cook!" Exclaimed the Hylian. "She loves the stuff I make, so I'll give her meals that'll bulk her up in no time!"

"It is not going to be an easy feat. By all evidence, she has had a stunted growth." Observed Jeritza. Knowing the quite impressive size of her parents in comparison to Bernie, Link had to agree.

"I know, but I'm pretty sure that I will be able to make something great out of her." Stated the Hylian, determined.

* * *

While the Black Eagles were having their training session and the Blue Lions were in class for their teacher's lecture, the Golden Deer House was preparing for a totally different activity. Indeed, its members, as well as their professor, had been busy for the first class hour of the day with gathering combat material in a quite spacious cart, while the members of a battalion of the Knights of Seiros either helped the youngsters or did their own preparation.

As Byleth was bringing her old and trusted iron sword, she noticed a familiar green-haired figure discussing with the knights with his usual stern look and his arms crossed behind his back. She then approached the man and gave a formal bow as she began to speak.

"Good morning, Seteth. May I ask you what you were doing here this morning?"

Upon hearing this question, the bureaucrat merely raised his eyebrows in confusion before he responded.

"Well, if you and the knights are going to have a mock battle, then _someone_ needs to monitor and act as a referee for it. It would be unfortunate if there was any accident, after all."

"… Fair enough." Admitted the new professor, turning her head to look at her students, who were pretty much done as well. "We are almost ready to go. You give the signal?"

After a nod from Seteth, the former mercenary walked back to the cart where her class had begun to place themselves. They had mostly sat down with their backs resting on the small ramparts on the sides of the vehicle. The only exception was Claude, who was situated at the back, with his legs lazily hanging down from the edge. Every single student present looked at Byleth as she approached.

"Alright. Everyone is ready?" Asked the new professor. Following this was a myriad of various forms of 'yes' coming from her students, except for Marianne, who didn't speak up due to her own timidity, and Hilda, who was pouting due to having to do some work today.

Right after this came Seteth's signal for the group to begin its travel, and thus the driver of the class' cart ordered his horses to pull. As the little caravan of knights and students slowly drove out of the monastery's grounds, Byleth pulled out a folded piece of paper from under her coat and smiled slightly as she looked over her charges.

"So, let's talk strategy before we begin…"

Immediately, Hilda let out a small groan as she looked away, preferring to admire the scenery instead. Claude and Ignatz, on the contrary, jerked their heads in their teacher's direction with an interested expression, as the rest of the class merely looked on with simple curiosity.

After gaining the attention of most of her students, Byleth unfolded what turned out to be a makeshift map, like the one she had gotten from Seteth prior to the first mock battle. On its south-west corner, she had drawn a red circle, representing the Golden Deer's initial position at the beginning of the battle. At the north and east of this circle were green dots representing forests and bushes, and the rest of the map had various markers of trees and enemy positions scribbled on it.

"As I have learned from Seteth, we are going to fight on a nearby plateau, where there are a lot of hiding spaces. However, while this can help us a lot, this is also true for our opponents, so we need to…" The former mercenary then paused as Ignatz lifted his hand to silently ask for parole. "Yes, what is it?"

"Right, excuse me, but… Will there be a risk of injury today? I mean, during the fight…" Asked the glasses-wearing boy timidly. In response, Byleth blinked once in slight confusion before answering.

"Yes, there will be… We are going to fight, Ignatz. There is always a risk."

Raphael, who was sitting right beside the frail archer, let out a hearty laugh as he patted his friend's shoulder.

"Hey, don't worry like that, buddy. It won't be _so_ bad! I'll be there to protect you!"

"And besides…" Interrupted Lysithea, glaring at Ignatz. "You are probably going to end up behind the rest of us due to your role. It's people like Leonie and Raphael who are going to take the biggest of the knights' attacks, so don't cower already."

Taking a slightly offended expression upon being called a coward, Ignatz then decided to simply accept his fate and sighed as he leaned back on the cart's wall. Byleth continued her explanations.

"As I was saying, we are going to take advantage of the forests surrounding our starting point. Could someone tell me which positions would be optimal to take?"

A moment of silence then befell on the group, only disturbed by the chirping noises of the cart's wheels and the stepping sounds of the nearby cavaliers' mounts. After some individual deliberation, Claude was the first to speak out, pointing at the north of the red circle.

"Well, here I can see that a few knights are going to have a rather easy time coming down on us, since there is a clearing in the woods…" He then designated a few green dots just besides the opening he had talked about. "However, this would also be the perfect place for an ambush. I could see someone strong being a lure with an archer or two waiting right there…"

"Very well observed, Claude. We should not mobilize more of our troops there than necessary, however, since we are not that much numerous, and the enemy is going to come mostly on the line of forest at the east." Added Byleth, scrutinizing her own map with attention.

"So, for this line…" Leonie intervened. "Are we going to spread out as well?"

"This would be for the best." Said Byleth while nodding approvingly. "If we send only one or two people at the front, then they could get ganged on by the enemy, while a line would force them to fight us separately. As such, I want Claude, Leonie, Hilda, and Lorenz to advance in line. Claude, Ignatz, Raphael and I will fight at the north, Lysithea will attack from behind us and you, Marianne, you will stay behind us as well in order to heal anyone who would need it."

"Huh?" Exclaimed the tired-looking girl before she uttered a heavy sigh. "But… I'll just make the situation worse…"

"What?" Asked Lysithea incredulously before she added, chuckling slightly. "What do you mean? Your only role is literally to heal them! How could you end up doing anything bad?"

"Yeah, on that note, professor…" Added Hilda. "I was wondering if I could offer some… psychological support instead of physical, you know, cheering on the rest of the team?"

"Oh, come on! What now?" Leonie mumbled, slightly annoyed. "You'll come at the front with us and fight like everyone."

"Hey, not everyone always wants to battle like some of you!" Retorted the pink-haired girl as the tension slowly began to build up within the group.

"Everyone, that's enough already!" Everyone, including Byleth, turned their head to look at the back of the cart, where Claude now stood up. "I know that we are all very different, but there is no place for infighting right before a battle, so I suggest that we instead listen to the Professor and then stick to our roles. After all, she's done this for a long time, and she knows what she is doing!"

As Byleth thanked the House leader and resumed her tactical reflections, Leonie then felt as though there missed something, or someone. After all, Claude did not usually get to say anything without getting interrupted by…

Lorenz!

She then quickly looked around, just to make sure that they hadn't forgotten him back at the monastery. She did spot him fast enough, sitting by his lonesome at the front of the vehicle. However, instead on focusing on contradicting Claude or attempting to be the first to answer the Professor's questions like he usually did, he was instead staring at his left hand with an awful lot of concentration, as the latter glowed with a small orange light. Curious, she then began to observe his odd behavior before she asked him about it herself.

"Hey, Lorenz. What're you doing?"

"Hm?" The young nobleman lifted his head and looked at Leonie before her question fully registered into his brain, at which point he responded. "Oh, I am simply trying to use some magic… an old spell I learned long ago…"

"Magic, huh?" Leonie repeated as she focused on Lorenz' hand. "I've not seen it a lot before… will you use some during the battle?"

"No, of course not!" Said the mauve-haired boy, chuckling slightly as he did so. "If I tried to apply in battle a spell that I cannot use well, I could severely harm myself, and possibly someone else. I intend to follow professor Hanneman's seminaries in order to get some training in Reason later."

"Yeah, you need like you need to gain a lot of that…" Retorted Leonie with a sly grin. Lorenz nodded in approval and then returned to his practice. "Do you at least listen to the professor?"

"Yes, I am. I will be part of the assault line of the East. Now, please, I am in the middle of practicing…"

Shrugging and then letting her gaze wander on the scenery, Leonie then realized that they were approaching a small plateau on one of the mountains nearing the monastery, and thus she decided to begin preparing herself mentally for the battle instead.

* * *

Back at the training arena of Garreg Mach, the class of the Black Eagles had taken a short halt as came the break. The House leader, as well as her loyal servant Hubert, had taken this small opportunity to go take a walk around the dorms of the monastery. Going in the direction of the boy's room, many would have made some rather dirty presumptions regarding their intentions.

Of course, the pair was not going to do anything as scandalous as this. Instead, after they both entered the small bedroom, Hubert made a quick check outside to make sure that no one had followed them while his liege uttered a sigh of relief as she sat on the edge of his bed. Since they would have to go back to the arena soon, the dark-haired boy didn't waste time before saying what was on his mind.

"Lady Edelgard, it would appear that this outsider is going to be continuing to be a presence for a good period of time." Stated the sinister servant after he closed the door. In response, his House leader nodded slowly.

"I have noticed. Have you had any luck with your research so far?" She asked.

"Actually, I have." Said Hubert with a slight grin. "I had a suspicion that Mister Link was involved in the assault on Count Varley. Do you happen to recall?"

"Yes, it was quite some time ago. He never told anyone about what happened, however. What made you think this, exactly?" Asked Edelgard again with a cautious frown. She did not want to trust a stranger blindly, but she believed that not jumping to conclusions about them was also a necessity.

"It is his younger brother, Jonas von Varley. He was not involved much in his family's affairs before the incident, but afterwards he has all but disappeared from public life. I actually had to verify that he wasn't dead…" Hubert explained his reasoning as he joined his hands together, pointing them down at every step of his thought process. "Through some questioning, I have also discovered that Jonas was housing an outsider at the time of the incident. As of now, it isn't the case anymore. It is nothing concrete, but still…"

Following her servant's explanation, the heir of Adestria's throne nodded slowly. Then, she looked up into Hubert's eyes.

"And from your observations of him, what have you concluded? Could he be a spy masquerading as him?"

Now, Hubert's expression became uncertain, which seemed quite strange to Edelgard if her slightly widening eyes and tilted head were any indication.

"It is hard to say at the moment, Lady Edelgard. He acts very suspiciously, that is sure. He is always lurking around, observing the facilities and the staff. Two days ago, in the evening, he departed from the monastery and went into the woods. I followed him from afar enough, thinking that he was going to report to superiors, or something similar, but he merely established a rudimentary camp and slept outdoors."

"Did he do anything the next morning?" Inquired Edelgard.

"No, he did not. He woke up in a screaming panic and then went back to the Academy after regaining his composure." Hubert explained, not bothering to mention that Link's cries had also awakened him, after he had failed to remain alert for the entire night. "His behavior is strange, but there is no proof that he works for… them."

"I see. So, he still is a wild card. This thing he brings everywhere, however… This is still something that troubles me much."

"His Plate, Lady Edelgard?"

"He called it a 'Slate', and he claimed it to be a magical artefact from his homeland. Have you seen it function?" After her servant shook his head, she continued. "It seems to bring to him what he desires within a short moment… Similar to the Rescue spell. I have never seen them use something like this before."

"Then, either this is the true Link and his claims are true, or this impostor strengthens the façade with one of the original's possessions." Stated the servant with an unsatisfied frown. "Still not conclusive in the slightest. What shall we do, regarding him?"

"We need to finish our little investigation quickly, that is certain. He is supposed to go help the Golden Deer and the knights when they go fight Kostas, right? If he is with them, then we will know for certain at this moment. Until then, we are going to be late, so let's rejoin Jeritza and the others right now."

"As you wish, Lady Edelgard."

* * *

Back at the arena, the students who had already returned had resumed their activities without much input from either their instructor or the latter's temporary assistant. Bernadetta was slowly but surely shooting her arrows as instructed prior, Linhardt and Dorothea were practicing their magical endurance, and so forth.

As Edelgard and Hubert came back from their slightly overly long break, almost no one in the area gave them any kind of attention, with the notable exception of Ferdinand. The ginger noble turned his head around and observed his House leader as she strolled on the sandy ground and went to retrieve her training axe. A slight grin appeared on his face as he went to meet her.

"Hey, Edelgard! You arrive just at the right time!" Exclaimed the heir of House Aegir, happily waving in the direction of the white-haired girl. She and her servant, however, were far from as thrilled as he was.

"Allow me to doubt it." Hubert stated with his arms crossed behind his back. Although his tone was calm, annoyance was fairly obvious in his expression. Sighing in reaction to the dark-haired boy's intervention, Ferdinand resumed.

"I was just now searching for a sparring partner! Since you are quite talented, I believed that you would be the perfect foe to test my abilities against!"

"While this sounds… interesting…" Replied Edelgard, trying her best not to raise her voice. "I would rather practice alone for today."

"Are you sure? Doing exercises on your own is great, but without practical experience regarding how to use your skill in battle, it is virtually useless!" Ferdinand retorted back, now sporting a frown.

"Ferdinand, stop harassing me everywhere I go. Not everything that we do needs to become a competition between the two of us."

"I don't think you understand, Edelgard. I am simply wanting to practice against someone who can challenge me properly!"

"Aegir, cease this right this instant." Interrupted Hubert, who was now scowling down at the ginger nobleman. "You haven't stopped annoying and arguing with Lady Edelgard since the day we arrived here."

"Hmph." Ferdinand, for his part, looked unimpressed by the taller servant as he crossed his own arms. "I would rather be annoyed and argued with than having an enabler and a yes-man like yourself."

As the tension was rising between the two men, the scene started by Ferdinand had attracted the attention of nearly every other student in the class, except for the sleepy Linhardt, and even of Jeritza, much to Edelgard's chagrin. Shortly, the masked instructor slowly approached the three youngsters.

"What is the matter here?" While his voice remained steady, a quick look under his mask would have revealed his annoyed frown.

"Pardon me, Instructor Jeritza." Said Ferdinand with a bow, immediately abandoning all attempt at continuing to argue with his House Leader, while both Edelgard and Hubert glared at him for trying to spin the situation as him being the victim. "I simply wished to invite her to duel."

"And what is the problem?" Asked the masked man again, now glancing at the white-haired girl. "You have not practiced much with others yet. If what I heard of your performance against the bandits is true, then you need to gain experience."

As she was about to argue, Edelgard then refrained herself and uttered a resigned sigh as she scowled at Ferdinand, who was now grinning victoriously.

"Fine. I will spar with you."

On this, both she and Ferdinand took some distance from each other before they adopted a fighting stance, with Ferdinand readying his spear as Edelgard raised her axe. Meanwhile, the rest of the group had assembled and circled the dueling pair, either curious about who the winner would be or amused by their behavior.

Hubert, for his part, had taken a reasonable distance and only looked at the fight because there was not much else to do with everyone, including Link and Jeritza, being focused on something else. For him, there was no point in observing, since he was certain of his mistress' victory. A confidant grin appeared in his face as he crossed his arms, unaware of the figure who had just taken place besides him.

"Hubert, could you do me some explanations, please?"

As the feminine voice appeared out of nowhere, Hubert flinched slightly as he looked to see just who had spoken. His alarmed state calmed down slightly when he realized just who had startled him: Petra, recognizable by her magenta braid and her imperfect speech patterns. At the same time, the servant also cursed himself for letting himself be surprised by anyone closing in on him, whoever they may be.

"What do you need explained?" Hubert asked back, looking down at the youngest member of the Black Eagles with his usual cold stare.

"Yes, it is about Ferdinand. He always provokes Edelgard at every time. Why is that?"

"I could not tell you myself." Hubert responded as he shrugged and looked at the ginger nobleman with contempt. "Some people simply need to try and prove their superiority to others, I suppose."

"Oh, I am seeing…" Then, as Jeritza announced the start of the duel, the two opponents' weapons began to clash. "Who are you thinking will win, then?"

"It is not even questionable." Responded Hubert, lifting his chin in pride on his leader's behalf. "Lady Edelgard will win with little trouble."

As he said these words, indeed, Edelgard had begun to push back on Ferdinand's assault and even managed to get a good hit in. Meanwhile, as the young man was focused on regaining his footing, the House leader attempted a second attack at his torso, but the heir of House Aegir managed to take another step back to evade the blow and immediately came back to the offensive. Becoming disinterested in the battle, Hubert turned his head around and addressed Petra once more.

"I hope that your stay at Garreg Mach is enjoyable, so far?"

"Yes, it is!" Answered the braided girl with a little nod. "It is much different from Brigid, however."

"I suppose so. Your situation isn't truly an enviable one, but you seem to be handling yourself well enough so far." Stated the dark-haired boy, shaking his head as he looked down in regret.

At this moment, the training arena found itself filled with applause following a winning hit on Edelgard's part, accompanied with the various comments of the onlookers.

"Wow, that's what I call a fight!"

"Can I go to my room, now?"

"No, you can't, I promised you a meal, remember?"

"Good battle. Now, go back to your training."

"You go, Edie!"

"That wasn't worth interrupting my nap for…"

As the rest of the class dispersed in order to go back to their previous activities, Edelgard dusted herself after her victory and solemnly walked towards Hubert, who bowed in an almost exaggerated manner at her arrival.

"Lady Edelgard, your triumph was nothing else than assured."

"Calm down, Hubert." Edelgard chuckled slightly at the praise, then sighed out. "And besides, he didn't fight badly either. I actually had to try if I wanted to win."

"But of course, Lady Edelgard."

* * *

Now that the lunch break had come around, the two Houses who were still in the monastery had gathered in order to get a delicious meal, and the trio formed by Ingrid, Sylvain and Felix was no exception.

Right after the three childhood friends sat down to eat, though, Ingrid noticed that the expressions of her two companions weren't exactly joyful. Getting slightly worried for her two friends, she spoke out as they ate.

"Hey, guys, what's gotten into you lastly? You're always so moody."

To her surprise, it was not Sylvain who responded first, but Felix, the eternal taciturn.

"Hanneman's class is boring, that is what. We are always talking, and talking, and we never do anything practical."

"We do have the training sessions, like everybody else, to be fair." Retorted the blonde, causing the young Fraldarius to scowl at her.

"Yes, but we have the worst deal of the bunch. The Black Eagles have just gotten an excellent fighter, the outsider, at their disposal at almost all time. As for the Golden Deer, they have a reknown mercenary as a professor who actually cares about their strengths and who has just brought her class to a supplementary battle today!" Then, Felix pointed at himself and Sylvain with exasperation. "What do _we_ have? A decrepit old man who can do nothing but ramble about Crests and a psychotic boar who could snap at any minute."

"Maybe if you were not always focused on how much you hate Dimitri and how chivalry is overrated, then you could see that there's more to his lectures than Crests." Retorted Ingrid, now pointing at Felix with her finger.

Silence fell on the trio as Sylvain uncomfortably continued to eat. Sighing in reaction to Felix's rant, Ingrid then turned to look at the red-headed boy.

"And you, what's your reason?"

Shrugging dismissively, Sylvain contended himself with continuing his plate as his blonde friend became exasperated with him.

"Don't tell me it's because of the girls again?"

Now that his secret had been uncovered, Sylvain let out a small 'hmph' and looked to the side.

"Yeah, well with your little outburst the other day, almost everyone's giving me funny looks and cold shoulders, so it's not really easy to approach women anymore."

"I would be embarrassed too if someone called me out for being a pervert in front of the whole academy." Admitted Felix with a half-amused smirk. "Why don't you yell again the story of how he flirted with your grandma?"

"We don't need that, alright?" Asked Sylain, before he shook his head with a soft sigh. "Listen, Ingrid, I am just a little down at the moment."

"Why don't you switch classes, then? You would have a pretty teacher and I wouldn't have to endure your stupidities anymore."

"Don't say anything stupid, Felix." Interrupted Ingrid, now leaning back in her chair in resignation. "I just worry a bit for you two."

"You do not need to." Retorted the young Fraldarius as he finished his plate and got up from the table. "Now, if you need me, I'll be at the training arena."

Since she also was almost done with her own meal, Ingrid decided that she would get out as well, and she waved at Sylvain before she left.

"See you in class."

Now alone on the table, in the middle of an emptying dinner hall, the red-head had some time to reflect on the discussion that had just happened. Yes, it was dumb to be in a bad mood just because he couldn't flirt as easily with girls anymore… However, it still didn't help the fact that he couldn't flirt as easily as before.

Then, his mind wandered off to the other points made, especially Felix'. Not the part about flirting with Grandma Galatea, but rather the part about switching classes. It was dumb to think about it, but at the same time… He would finally have either Manuela or Byleth as a teacher, which would be quite nice, all things considered.

Though, even if he wanted to make a demand, neither of them would accept this soon in the year. It meant that he could try his luck and, if it didn't work out, he simply would contend himself with staying with Hanneman…

No, it was definitively worth trying.

* * *

In the late afternoon, the carriage that had brought the Golden Deer to its training battlefield was now beginning its travel back to the monastery of Garreg Mach in a slow pace. Its charges, who had been, for the most part, eager and energetic this morning were now sitting in silence, with some of the students having gained new bandages in the mock battle that had occurred sooner in the day.

While Byleth had gotten on horseback and discussed with Seteth about the progress of the students and to possibly organize another fight soon, the knights who were travelling near the cart adopted uncomfortable expressions as the Golden Deers argued among themselves. Leonie spoke out first, rubbing her scratched arm.

"Seriously, people! You could have made at least _some_ effort and tried to advance at the same rate as me! Now, the knights have all gone on me on the spot and it's your fault!"

"Hey, don't put all of the blame on us!" Retorted Hilda, who pointed an accusatory finger at the redhead with an offended frown. "You just ran off and practically offered yourself to them! If anything, it was you who was too zealous!"

"And why should we have waited? They were already coming in our direction!" Exclaimed Leonie.

"Becauuse, we could have just waited for them to come and beat them up when they approached, like I proposed. They saw you because you were moving too fast." Stated the pink-haired girl, crossing her arms.

"You don't get it? I was trying to keep the advantage of the forest! If we got them before they could enter, then we would have had the cover for ourselves."

"Yeah, see where this 'advantage' got you…" Added Hilda with a mocking smirk.

"While Leonie's strategy was reckless without doubt…" Interrupted Lorenz, raising a finger up as if asking too late for parole. "She does have merit to have tried to get the enemy in a disfavorable position. Especially since you, Hilda, tried to stay away from the fight."

"Come on, Lorenz, I was just trusting you guys. Isn't this the right attitude to have?" Complained the pink-haired girl, rolling her eyes.

"Not if it causes you to not assist your teammates. I do not understand wy you would not help us out, however. From what I have seen you accomplish in the second half of the battle, your skill with your axe are quite formidable!" Lorenz responded with a questioning look on his face.

As the three frontliners were arguing, Claude uttered a heavy sigh, getting slightly annoyed by their banter and readying himself to interrupt while Marianne shriveled up in the corner of the cart as she looked down in shame.

"This is all my fault… if I had done better, then you could maybe have beaten them…"

Then, the blue-haired teen flinched as a muscular hand gripped her shoulder and gently shook her. Turning her head around, she saw the imposing form of Raphael, who was smiling at her as Ignatz, who was sitting besides him, looked at her with pity.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Marianne! If you hadn't been there, then I and Ignatz would have had a lot more trouble with our own guys."

"But… you still lost…" Retorted the timid girl as she loked away from the mountain of a man sitting besides her.

"Yeah, but only after we went on to help Leonie out. I'm serious, you were a lifesaver!"

"…" Marianne could only sit in silence as she tried to ignore Raphael's praise, while the giant blonde turned over to Lysithea, who was pouting alone.

"Hey, nothing hurt? Did you need bandages or something?" In response to Raphael's well-intentionned questioning, however, the little white-haired girl scowled at him.

"Why do you ask? Of course I'm not hu-Hngh!" At this moment, a quite vicious hit at her abdomen dealt earlier caused her to curl up in pain, which only exacerbed her frustration. "And even if I was, I can handle it perfectly on my own."

"Are you sure? You seem kinda hurt…" Retorted the blonde man, to the young girl's exasperation.

"Can you just stop it? You act like I'm some sort of child who needs to be protected! Who do you think you are, my big brother?"

"I… yeah, maybe a bit?" Hesitated Raphael. "How old are you again? Weren't you, like, fifteen or so?"

"This is completely irrelevant!" Shouted the youngest member of the Golden Deer. Decidin to let this subject go, Raphael did not speak further, letting the argument between Lorenz, Leonie and Hilda fill the air.

"And if you think my tactics were good, then why didn't you come? We could have handled them!" Exclaimed the redhead to Lorenz, who quickly defended himself while lifting up his chin.

"I was waiting for Marianne to keep up with us after she had to help Raphael and Ignatz. With a healer to support us, we would had fared much better!" Oblivious as to how this new statement only worsened Marianne's guilt, Lorenz then looked at Claude with contempt. "At least, we didn't follow his idea. Did you truly believe that the knights would have fallen for such an obvious trap?"

"Better than just waiting for them, Lorenz." Argued the tanned archer. "In this case, we would have had a slight surprise advantage."

Just as the violet-haired nobleman was about to argue back, he suddenly stopped moving as he looked at the back of their vehicle. As everyone else noticed his staring, they turned to see as well and realized that their professor, Byleth, had just got off from the horse she had borrowed from some knight and climbed onto the cart. Scrutinizing every student present, she then took in a deep breath and spoke up.

"Alright, brats. Today, I think that you all saw for yourself why I am planning to make you practice so much. Am I not right?"

"Excuse me, professor…" Ignatz said, blushing heavily as everyone's attention was turned on him. "We did follow your ideas… We all worked with the same strategy."

"Well, yes, but actually no." Responded Byleth, to the green-haired boy's surprise. "Everyone had a good idea of what they had to do, but after this you simply fought on your own. While Lorenz and Hilda waited for the enemy to come, Leonie went to attack, and Lysithea tried to take them by the flank. Except for the basic strategy, only Raphael, Ignatz and I actually cooperated at the north."

Then, the cart found itself in complete silence for the first time since it departed, which let Byleth continue.

"It is important that we keep doing mock battles like this, since it will allow you to know of your teammates' antics and synergize with them. Tomorrow, I will give you a break from class and you will do chores in teams of two instead." As everyone else present either sighed or slowly nodded their heads, Byleth decided to give them some encouragements. "I will say, though, that you all did a pretty good job today. Two waves of knights defeated is no small feat for beginners, even if they were holding back. So, tonight, I will organize a feast for everyone here. What do you say?"

At this, most of the visages present suddenly lightened up and smiled, especially Raphael and Claude's. For the rest of the group, the sudden joy was less from the promise of food and more from the praise from their deadpan teacher.

"Well, looks like this day won't end up being so disastrous, now will it?" Asked the House leader, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

As the monastery came into view, however, Byleth gave a look at her class, now more joyous, and grew slightly worried. While they had made significant progress in the last days, she was not sure if they really could hold on against a real enemy, like they would have to soon.

She quickly composed herself again, however. After all, the solution for this was simple: She was going to give them the hellish training they definitively need.

* * *

Later, during the night, the ambiance at Garreg Mach was quite festive, with one of the Houses celebrating their almost victory with a feast while another was testing out the cooking genius of a certain outsider after they had heard of it from their classmate.

However, in this dark place far from the Academy, illuminated by eerie and artificial blue light, the atmosphere was quite different. The small office would look fairly mundane if it were not for the unnatural and black metal-like material the furniture was made of and the lines of flowing blue energy passing through the floor.

In this strange place were two men. The first, who was fairly tall, wore a dark robe, which was quite similar to what a bishop would wear. His skin, which was of a deathly white, as well as his white hair and massive beard contrasted quite a lot with his choice of clothing. He was looking expectantly at the second man present.

The latter, unlike the first, was small and frail, always crouched over and using a cane to walk without exhausting himself. His own robe was of a darkly red and extended slightly past his legs to drag up behind him. His most defining feature, however, was his head. Without a hint of hair, the entire top half of his cranium seemed oversized when compared to his face and body which, coupled with the protruding veins that ran through all of its skin, made it look like it was inflated. On top of this, his right eye, which was almost completely black, was surrounded with flesh that had appeared to corrode, causing dark stripes to appear as well. Even next to his taller fellow, this man seemed like he came right out of a freak show.

"How is your operation going so far, Solon?" Asked the bearded man solemnly. In response, his companion chuckled and smirked.

"They are not even doubting a thing yet. They have no reason to suspect me so far."

"And what sort of information have you gathered on these newcomers, the mercenary and the outsider?" The taller man turned around to look at a few occult books in his office's library and looked through them, more out of habit than anything else.

"They are both quite intriguing so far. From what I heard of this Hylian vermin, he is quite talented in combat, and as such I will keep an eye on him. There is something about him that particularly interests me, however." As the bearded man looked back at him with a curious expression, Solon continued. "It is a magical object that he brings everywhere, he claims that it can invoke other things to his position on a whim. However, I have observed him a little more and I have discovered that it also capable of showing images."

"Do you believe that you could steal it?"

"No, he seems far too vigilant for this. Luckily, it will only be a matter of time before this Hanneman takes interest in it and shares his discoveries with anyone who listens. At this point, I will be able to know more of its capacities." Then, Solon's grin turned sinister as he thought of what the Hylian could be hiding about his little Slate.

"Good. You are right to remain careful. Even with our current plan, it is better to stay undetected until out dominance is assured. And what about the mercenary?"

"Oh, her case is somehow boring and extremely interesting at the same time. You see, her father is Sir Jeralt, who disappeared a few decades ago in a fire at Garreg Mach. When she was discovered by the church after she helped to save the three lords, the archbishop immediately gave her a teaching position, despite having absolutely no credentials for it. She also ignored Jeritza as a more proper replacement."

"In this case, this means that Rhea probably has a very specific reason for keeping this girl near her. I wonder why." The taller man then brought his hand to his chin as he reflected on this.

"Furthermore, she has tasked the new professor with dealing with the thugs that the Flame Emperor left in Zanato."

"!" Now, the bearded man nodded slowly. "On this note, I want you to go and monitor those bandits, Solon."

"What?" The disfigured fellow gave him a half-surprised, half-annoyed glance. "And why?"

"After the Flame Emperor left them to their fate, I believe that they could be capable of anything to save their own miserable lives. They could even try to denounce the Emperor to the Church."

"Even if they did so, then what would it change? It would still not lead them closer to discovering us in any way." Argued Solon.

"Maybe not, but it would give them an idea of what they are dealing with. Even if they only know of the Flame Emperor's existence, then it will give them more of a lead than none at all. For this reason, you will make sure that if they try anything, then they will not survive."

"Oh! This reminds me…" Solon then grinned again as he chuckled. "The new professor _and_ the Hylian are supposed to be present, along with the Golden Deer. If an 'accident' was to happen, then we would be able to retrieve the Slate, on top of getting rid of witnesses and potential trump cards of the church…"

Then, the taller man's face lightened up at the sinister idea as well, and he turned his head around to give a nod of approval at his disfigured underling.

"This is quite an excellent idea… I suppose that you can handle this on your own well enough?"

"Of course, master Thales."

* * *

**Author's notes:**

**Hello everyone! I hope that you had a good read. However, there are some things that I feel are needed to be said about this story.**

**Firstly, I must recognize that I am a novice writer, and that Fire Emblem: Three Houses has way too much characters for me to give them all the spotlight they deserve. Link, The Golden Deer House and a few other students and staff members will be notable, but I fear that a lot of the game's cast will end up being relegated to being background characters, as much as it pains me.**

**Secondly, the reason for which I did not include the mock battle against the Knights of Seiros is because it is just another generic fight, and because action scenes are not the ones I prefer to write. Instead, I go for the character banter afterwards, which does a decent job at explaining the battle anyways. When a fight becomes more unique, like against Kostas or Lonato, then I will put it into more detail.**

**P.S.: So, Byleth has made it into Smash! I will say, this was a bit of an odd timing for adding them, but I do think that it is quite an awesome day for TH! Also, the 4rth DLC looks quite epic.**

**Let's just assume that the Ashen Wolves are hanging out in the Abyss doing nothing during The Legend of Fodlan, like they do in every playthrough before their inclusion. If I ever do a sequel to this fic, though, they could be fun to integrate in some manner.**

**Once again, if you have questions, remarks or anything else, feel free to post a review!**

**Until next chapter, y'all!**


	9. Ch 9 - Bandit Arc, Part 4

Fodlan year: 1180

Harpstrings Moon

"…"

As Byleth opened her eyes, a familiar faint, green glow was the only source of light that she could perceive. Immediately, the former mercenary recognized the general ambiance as well as the cold floor made of stone as the strange dream that she had always had.

Now that she thought of it, though, it had not occurred since the bandit attack… she shortly wondered why until a high-pitched voice attracted her attention. At first, a loud yawn could be heard, and at this point Byleth found the throne where the green-haired girl – or, as she called herself, Sothis – was sitting. As she herself opened her eyes, she looked down on the new teacher.

"Hey, finally we can speak again." The small girl sighed slightly in relief as she rested her head on one of her hands. Byleth, on her part, simply stared at Sothis.

"And what did you want to speak about?" Asked the former mercenary, crossing her arms while not changing her deadpan expression in the slightest way.

"Well, firstly, about the mission that you and your class are going to fulfill." As the girl spoke, however, Byleth frowned almost imperceptibly.

"And how do you know of this?"

"I'm not sure… somehow, I kind of know what happens to you. After that bandit attack, I've been able to perceive things clearer, like that humiliating defeat that Dimitri caused you…" A small chuckle escaped Sothis' lips as a wide grin appeared on her face. Predictably, it did not amuse her interlocutor very much. Then, as she resumed speaking, her expression began serious again. "If my presence continues to grow at this rate, I should be capable of communicating with you, even when you're awake."

"Didn't you want to speak of the mission?" Asked Byleth.

"Hm? Oh, yes, right…" Sothis then cleared her throat before she returned to her intended topic of conversation. "Over the course of the last few days, this man, what's-his-name, he has been keeping you aware of the situation, right?"

The former mercenary nodded approvingly. Indeed, during the first weekend of the month, Seteth had informed her that the Order of Seiros' search for Kostas and his accomplices had been rather fruitful. They even had a good idea of a hideout. Presumably, she and the Golden Deer would be sent in the next week to deal with them before they find a way to escape.

"So, I will say it right now. I don't like the idea of sending children to the battlefield…"

"In their defence, they have done a second mock battle against the Knights of Seiros Saturday, and it went much better than the one they did Thursday." Objected Byleth, raising a finger as she made her point.

"This is not what I'm talking about. They are just kids and…" Then, Sothis paused as she took into consideration the person she was currently talking to. "Although you have been a mercenary for your whole life, so you would not really understand. The point is that since the situation is quite delicate, I will try to grant you my Divine Pulse."

"Your what?" Asked the former mercenary with a raised eyebrow.

"The way I rewinded time when you almost got us killed, do you remember it? Divine Pulse is what I called it." Sothis adopted a semi-prideful smile. "It sounds quite good, do you think not?"

"I think that it would have been great to have back when Dimitri almost fractured my skull."

"Oh, please. That one was your own fault… just like with the axe in your back, actually. In any case, I am not sure of how many times you will be able to use this ability, so do so wisely. Got it?"

Byleth then rolled her eyes as the world around her and Sothis began to glow brighter.

"Yes, I got it."

As she spoke those four words, the light became stronger, almost blinding, until it engulfed the entire throne room as Byleth woke up.

* * *

Soon in the morning of the monastery of Garreg Mach, the merchants that were stationed near the front gate were already filling the marketplace with a pleasant ambiance as they did the preparations for the day. The small mercenary guild that offered temporary service for any Knight that may want them were maintaining their weapons and the local blacksmith had already begun to work on a few pieces of equipment that she had been tasked to craft.

Meanwhile, in a more secluded part of the market, usually reserved for Almyran merchants or other outsiders, Anna had installed her stand and was making some early business with a familiar Hylian. As the latter looked through the exotic materials and ingredients that she had brought, the two made some small talk.

"And how has been the potion research so far? Have you found anything that worked well with the recipe I gave you?" Asked Link as he examined an anti-magic shield in the pink-haired merchant's stand before putting it back in place. Anna pouted a little as she sighed.

"Not that well. I've tried a couple of bugs, like you told me, but none gave a good effect like the one you did by yourself. Plus, Monster meat isn't really easy to find, and my guys aren't seasoned hunters themselves."

"This is because you need to find either an insect or a lizard that needed to adapt to the place it lives in. I remember that in Hyrule, all of the lizards I used were of the same species, but with different habitats…" Responded the Hylian while looking over a couple of sceals that Anna claimed to be mandatory for the students to pass certain exams, whatever that meant.

"Yeah, I guess that would work, but I have better things to do with the time I would need for _that_…" Retorted the greedy merchant as she frowned and brought her index under her chin. "I would need to hire someone just to gather the bugs…"

"Yes, but if Beedle's prices back home taught me something, it's that the potion market is quite profitable." Link commented before he pointed at a turtle shell on the stand. "And what is this, exactly?"

"Ah, this is a Mega Shell!" Exclaimed Anna excitedly, with the prospect of a sale overshadowing her previous disappointment. "It serves as a soup ingredient. It is so nutritive that it reinforces your bones permanently… Or so the rumor says, in any case."

"Permanently? I've never managed to make any potion or elixir that lasted forever." Link then nodded slowly and shrugged. "I'll have to see for myself, then."

Right as the Hylian made his purchase and handed the required money to Anna, a quite massive figured entered the marketplace, hurriedly looking around and looking as though he's been running all around the monastery for the last hour. As the man spotted Link, he sighed out in relief and slowly approached the discussing pair. The pink-haired merchant saw him coming before he could announce his presence, however, and she waved at him with a smile.

"Oh, fancy seeing you here, Alois!" She exclaimed while grinning in the anticipation of another successful selling as Link turned his head around to look at the newcomer. "You needed something peculiar, I presume?"

"Hello, miss Anna." Responded the Holy Knight with a respectful bow. "I didn't come for you today, however. I was searching for Mister Link."

"Hm?" The Hylian tilted his head to the side in slight confusion. "So early in the morning? What for?"

"Surely you must remember the bandits that you fought close to Remire, right?" Asked Alois as he regained his breath.

"Yes, I do…" Link's face then lightened up as he realized what was happening. "Have your scouts found them already?"

"Yup. Right into the Red Canyon as we thought. And just like we thought as well, several monsters have been spotted nearby, so we have to escort the Golden Deer so they can carry on their assignment in relative peace."

"As much peaceful as an extermination quest goes." Link retorted with a slightly disdainful look. Alois then grinned as he cleared his throat.

"You know, these thugs probably didn't expect to be caught _red-handed_ like this!" As the knight laughed out loud of his own joke, Link looked over him with immense disappointment while Anna chuckled a little. "Got it? Because they are in the _Red_ Canyon…"

"Don't worry, I got it." Link reassured as he stored the Shell away in his Slate before he stretched a little. "So, when do we go?"

"As soon as the Golden Deer are ready. They haven't begun to prepare, so we still have plenty of time. What equipment do you need?" The knight inquired, checking out the Hylian who, aside from his usual blue clothing and his Slate, did not have anything in his possession that could help him in a battle. In response, Link smiled and tapped on his trusted piece of Sheika-made technology.

"Don't worry, buddy. Everything's in there. I do have some things to do before I go, though, but I'll be back quickly."

"And what are these things? If it isn't too indiscreet, of course." Asked Alois.

"I just have to go notify Jeritza and Manuela that I won't be there today. Thinking about it, though, it was the Golden Deer's turn at the training area today, so he'll know either way…" Link reflected as he scratched his head before beginning to walk out. "I'll speak to them and come back to you, buddy. You did say there were monsters, right?"

As the Holy Knight acquiesced quietly, the Hylian turned to Anna and waved off as he left.

"I'll be bringing some monster meat when I come back, then. See you both later!"

* * *

Later this morning, a small battalion departed from the front gate of the Officers' Academy as the monastery's citadel's streets began to liven up with the various businesses' activities. At the front, Alois, who was wearing his white armor decorated with a red cape led the group, discussing with Link, who had put on his usual Champion's blue outfit, as he marched through the town. Just behind the pair was Byleth, who walked at an even pace, seemingly lost in thought as she stared right ahead.

Then, following suite were the current eight students of the Golden Deer House. At the front of the little group were Claude, spinning an arrow in his hand absent-mindedly, and Lorenz, who had decided to show his defiance to his House leader by walking side by side with him and thus denying any obedience he had for the heir of the Riegan. Of course, the Gloucester lad was the only one to care for this little act.

Behind the two were the rest of the class, coming along with a good variety of expressions on their visages, ranging from excited to frightful. Alongside the youngsters were the beasts of burden which had to carry the students' equipment, including their weapons and protecting gear. Only Raphael and Leonie were holding their own stuff, as a way to exercise for the former and a question of personal pride for the latter. At last, behind the students were the knights of Seiros under Alois' command who were going to make sure that the lads' first assigned mission remained monster-free.

At this moment, the Golden Deer got out of the city and arrived to a thinner, badly maintained road which led to Zanato. The green landscape ran unevenly across the Horizon with some rocky fields in the Red Canyon's direction. Leonie stretched slightly as the battallion's lineup thinned slightly to accommodate the new road and she noticed Ignatz' borderline fightened expression and she frowned slightly as she addressed him.

"Hey, Ignatz. Is there a problem?"

"Oh, Leonie…" The green-haired young man flinched slightly as the redhead suddenly spoke up. "I… No, there's no problem."

"Are you sure? You look pretty nervous, you know?"

"…" Sighing out from stress, Ignatz then looked up to the sky as the class began walking once again. "Actually… I am a bit afraid, I have to admit…"

"Well, you are in an academy which trains people to be knights, or whatever." Responded the redhead. "Of course you're gonna be put in dangerous situations."

"It is not only that." Admitted the lad once again. "Just the idea of killing someone… I can't imagine actually taking a life…"

"Uh…" At this, Leonie turned her head around to look at Ignatz with an unsure look. "And what are you here for, exactly, if just that scares you?"

"It… It's my parents. We are a rather important merchant family, but it is my older brother who is going to inherit our business. As such, my parents thought that it would be better for me to become a knight…"

"Oh, I see… And what about you? What did you want to become?"

"…" Ignatz blushed slightly at the question, turning his head around in order to avoid Leonie's stare. "Oh, i-it is nothing, really…"

"Alright, if you don't want to tell me about it, then it's fine." Leonie said before a slight, confidant grin formed on her face. "For now, though, don't forget that we're in the best Academy in all of Fodlan! You and your family know the value of hard work, right? Let's show these snotty nobles what we've got and become the best fighters in history!"

"I suppose so… I fear that I don't share your enthusiasm…" Muttered the young man as he looked forward, in the direction of Claude and Lorenz.

Speaking of those two, the violet-haired nobleman had made it a point to walk at the same pace as his House leader, even after the road became thinner. He held his chin high in the air before he glanced to the side in Claude's direction. The latter had his head facing the ground as he mumbled to himself, which irritated the young Gloucester.

"Claude, if your thoughts are not meant to be shared, then keep them to yourself. Stop muttering like this, you hardly look adequate."

"Hm?" Slightly startled by Lorenz addressing him, the archer lifted his head and looked at his interlocutor. "Oh, I was simply thinking up possible scenarios in my head. You know, "what would I do in X situation', this sort of thing."

"And yet again, you are not capable of passing a moment without scheming, are you?" Asked Lorenz again with a judgemental look.

"You are never prepared enough, Lorenz. Besides, scheming is to me what a noble's duty is to you. The thing is that I can't think of a precise plan as long as we haven't seen the terrain and the enemy's position."

"Yet another reason to stop mumbling. If you even manage to actually become the leader of the Alliance, this sort of behavior will make you pass as a lunatic, or even worse, someone who is always planning something behind everyone's back."

"Isn't that what every noble in the Alliance do anyway?" Claude retorted, which caused Lorenz to scuff. "In any case, we are almost there, so we may as well stop arguing over nothing for the rest of the trip, now should we?"

As the young Riegan spoke, Lorenz briefly glanced in his direction with an offended expression, not appreciating the implications of his words at all. Looking back ahead, though, Lorenz could indeed see that their group was approaching the limits of the Red Canyon. As a result, he decided that he would wait until the now traditional strategic talk with Byleth in order to argue with Claude any further and the class ended their trip in the utmost silence.

* * *

The sun was hitting hard on the rocky surface on which the Golden Deer had stationed to eat. About a dozen of meters away from them, there was a cliff which gave a direct view on the place where Kostas and his people were waiting, and on the other direction, another cliff erected for a certain height. They were effectively on a reasonably-sized pathway on the length of the ravin. Despite arriving quite soon in the morning, the position of Kostas' hideout had caused some trouble for Byleth and Alois, mainly in how they were going to approach the thugs without being noticed. Link had proposed an aerial assault on kites, but his idea was quickly shut down.

As for the students, part of them really did not mind the delay. After all, for Ignatz, Hilda and Marianne, this meant that, with some luck, they might be exempt from fighting altogether! For the rest, however, the wait was beginning to be excruciating, without mentioning the heat and the harsh sunlight.

Meanwhile, Byleth and Alois were still debating on how to proceed properly. The former mercenary took a peek on the bandits' hiding place and observed it for some more time.

They were resting on what seemed to be the ruins of a vast building, of which the foundations had somehow survived the erosion caused by the flowing river which ran a hundred meters lower. The area was separated in three main 'islands', which were connected with old rocky bridges, which would complicate the assault even more as the class would have to pass through those to catch Kostas.

On top of it all, their hideout was surrounded with high cliffs, with very few paths which gave access to it. The southern one was relatively unguarded, but it was only because it was completely in the open and, thus, not optimal for stealth. Byleth sighed out in annoyance before she went back to the knights.

At the same time, climbing on the cliffside over the group was Link, looking around him with a wide smile as he gained some altitude before he went out of the Red Canyon's ravins for a minute. At this point, he got his Sheikah Slate out and snapped a few pictures of the gorgeous geography before he went back down and rejoined the students. At this point, Claude decided to break the monotony and addressed the Hylian.

"Hey, Mister Link! What were you doing over there with your thingy?"

"Oh, I was taking pictures!" Claimed the bearded blonde man as he raised the Slate in the air proudly. "This is just one of this precious thing's abilities!"

"Really?" Hilda asked, a bit incredulous. "Could I see for myself, then?"

Nodding in agreement, the Hero of Hyrule then came to the pink-haired teenager's side and opened up his photo gallery before showing her the images of the scenery of Fodlan that he had taken, especially the ones around the mountains of Oghma. As Hilda's eyes got wider with amazement, Ignatz joined in and gasped as he saw the pictures.

"By the Goddess!" He exclaimed, bringing his hand to his mouth. "It looks just like the real thing! It would be so practical to have for a painter…"

"Indeed, it would." Link stated as he turned his Slate off, before he gave another look on his surroundings. "Could one of you tell me what is the deal is with all these ruins? What is this place?"

At this, Lorenz raised his hand and decided to answer Link's question. After all, he had been taught all of the Church of Seiros' legends… Or so he thought.

"As you must have heard, we are in Zanato, also known as the Red Canyon. Over a thousand years ago, this place was the most populated city in all of Fodlan, although now this title belongs to Enbarr, the Empire's capital. According to the Church's teachings, this is the place where the Goddess would have manifested and revealed herself to the people of Fodlan."

"Oh, so you have a Goddess who came here?" Asked Link, causing a good chunk of the students to give him a curious glance.

"Pardon me? The legend is about _the_ Goddess, the Projenitor God." Lorenz retorted.

"Oh, yeah, I got that. It's just that every place I went in had their own folklore, you know? Dagda and Brigid had their own Gods as well." Link explained as he shrugged. After this, Claude grinned and spoke up.

"Speaking of Gods, what about your homeland, Hyrule? Surely you have a religion over there too?"

Ignoring the disapproving glare that Lorenz gave the young Riegan, Link sighed slightly as he tried to remember the details as well as he could.

"Yeah, we did. If I recall correctly, Hyrule would have been created by three Goddesses. They had their own chosen ones, representing Courage, Wisdom and Power, or something like that."

"And what role did your religion have in your life, if I may ask?" Inquired the tanned archer once again.

"Not much, honestly. You know, most folks' priorities changed when most of them were killed."

Most of the students found themselves surprised to hear Link's words, as this was new information for them, while Claude remembered very well the little talk they had prior about the 'Calamity'.

"Alright, I see." Concluded Claude as he stretched a little, looking over to Byleth and the knights. "I do hope that they can find a good path before the end of the day…"

While Link was bonding with the members of the Golden Deer, the latter's teacher was laying on her stomach as she observed the bandit group some more and their positions, trying to come up with the optimal strategy before she slowly got up and walked towards the knights. Sighing in frustration as she reflected on her plan of action, Byleth turned to Alois, who had almost fallen asleep under the heavy sun of the afternoon. She then nudged him in the arm, causing the large Warrior to flinch.

"Alright, I've decided on a course of action." Announced the former mercenary with a cold stare.

"Oh, great…" Alois said as he tumbled while getting back up. "And which path are you going to take, in the end?"

"Is it going to be long?" Asked a cavalier not far from them, but his question only got him a stern look from Byleth, which encouraged him to not speak further.

"It should not. We are going to attack from the South. At least, down there, there is enough space for us all to maneuver freely and, thus, place ourselves best." Explained the teacher before she stopped talking, seemingly paying close attention to the enemy's direction. Alois raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Professor? Is something the ma-"

He was interrupted, however, by Byleth bringing her point finger to her mouth, signaling him to stop making sounds before she approached the ravine and looked at the Knight of Seiros while nodding her head in the thugs' way, asking him to come see as well. As Alois complied, the newfound silence allowed him to distinguish guttural growls coming from the deeper parts of the Canyon, as well as some panicked voices.

Then, when he looked at Kostas' group, he understood what was happening. Below them, the bandits were in the middle of battling with a Demonic Beast who had just invaded their hideout. Already, distinctive spots of red could be seen around the creature as the outlaws' leader rushed the thing. Alois frowned slightly at the sight.

"Took it long enough to happen… I don't think that they are going to survive this, Professor, so I suggest we depart now before more monsters come and spot us."

Acquiescing at the older man's advice, Byleth looked in the direction of the students under her charge. At the same time, the beast's cries had become clearer and had attracted the attention of Link, who was now approaching the ravine as well.

"Hey, looks like this thing got them before you could, huh?" Asked the Hylian rhetorically.

However, the near silence was utterly destroyed by an abominable roar that came from over their position. Byleth and Alois' eyes widened in horror as Link reached for the Master Sword on his back while they looked up to see what was the cause of this sound.

Sure enough, the professor and the Holy Knight's fears were true: a Demonic Beast was now looming over them, gripping the walls as it slowly descended toward them. It mutated grey skin and numerous, sharped teeth gave the creature a hellish look as it observed the party present. The battalion hadn't the time to react before another cry made itself heard, this time in the form of a monstrous screech, this time coming from the Canyon, as around a dozen Giant Birds erupted from the deeper parts of Zanado and began to circle the party.

One of the Snipers present in the group had the reaction to take aim on the avians who were now threatening the battalion, but in his haste he had failed to give attention to the Beast, who was now preparing to jump on the man, as if to protect its terrifying allies. Some tried to warn him, but it was too late. The enormous mass was going to crash on the knight of Seiros, and the poor man could only scream and cower.

Just as the monster's body should have killed him, however, a red sphere materialized around him and a green, phantomatic form appeared with a mighty roar as the suddenly-appeared shield repelled the Beast and sent it flying on the cliff, not far from them. While the rest of the battalion got ready to confront the thing, the miraculously saved Sniper dared to look up, almost certain that he had actually died.

However, what he saw was drastically different than, say, Saint Seiros welcoming you in the Other Side. Instead, the form of the blonde outsider who had been following them today was perched over the knight while the red shield he created turned around them. A second after the man peeked, the Hylian got up and stopped maintaining the red sphere as he looked toward the monster.

"Phew, this one was close…" He then glanced at the Sniper, who was beginning to regain his composure. "Be more careful when there are monsters around, buddy. I won't always be there to protect you."

He then chuckled as he took in a deep breath and psyched himself up for battle as he stared at the Birds who were coming dangerously close.

"Now then, let's settle th-"

Link was cut short, ironically, by a stray fireball that the Demonic Beast had shot out of its mouth in its struggle against the knights, which hit the ground below him and sent him right into the ravine, much to the Sniper's horror.

Alois himself looked on with a justifiably worried look as the Hylian cursed in his native tongue while falling down the cliff. He didn't have the privilege to know of the outsider's fate, however, as a second Beast came climbing from right under him and gripped the edge of the pathway before it pulled itself up and knocked the Holy Knight away with its free front paw. As a result, Byleth found herself alone against the creature as the Knights of Seiros fought against the first one.

As she gave a glance to the Birds, just to make sure she wouldn't be hit by them, she noticed that they were now all flying back down, in the direction in which Link had fallen. She thus unsheathed her sword and took a combat stance, ready to confront the monster since her students were out of danger.

Or at least, she thought they were.

* * *

The shock had been great for the Golden Deer House, when only a few seconds after their pleasant discussion with Link, two Demonic Beasts had appeared out of seemingly nowhere and began to fight their professor and the knights. The Hylian, being knocked in the canyon, was quickly presumed dead by the students. Reacting quickly before everyone began to panic, Claude got up and yelled at his classmates while pointing and waving in the direction from which they had arrived, which seemed free of monsters.

"Everyone, quick! Let's go while we have the chance!"

With the notable exception of Lorenz and Leonie, who both intended to stay and help out as much as they could – which would have meant, in the grand scheme of things, very little –, the rest of the class followed Claude's order and began to run toward safety. Raphael, for his part, stayed slightly behind the rest so he could make sure to stop incoming threats from behind.

Unfortunately for Claude's latest plan, fate would not let the Golden Deer leave this Canyon this easily. As the youngsters ran around one of the cliff's corners, they found out that a third Beast was coming in this direction, creeping slowly on the battalion until the students came in its field of vision. At this point, however, the monster's attitude quickly switched from 'stalking' to all-out hunting. Claude gasped in horror and extended his hand to help Lysithea from falling over due to the sudden stopping.

"Change of plans! Everyone, get back!"

Unsurprisingly, this new directive found no objection as the students were now stuck between the raging battle down the pathway and a hungry Demonic Beast running after them. As Leonie and Lorenz took notice of the gravity of the situation, Claude took his bow from behind his back and readied it before shooting right in the monster's throat.

Unfortunately, despite his best efforts, the arrow merely bounced right off its deformed skin and did rather little to stop the thing, apart from staying behind as a juicy distraction. The young Riegan barely had the time to jump to the side before the creature tried to slash him open, avoiding the lethal attack.

Then, right as the monster turned around and eyed Claude up, a medium-sized rock hit it square in the eye. While it did not do any damage, the impact still made the Beast flinch and re-direct its attention. Claude looked on as well as he got up and distanced himself from the current threat.

He saw Leonie picking up another stone and preparing herself to throw it with a look of absolute terror on her face. Nonetheless, she stood her ground and waited for the enemy to make its move. Looking behind her, Claude could also see Lorenz holding up his spear shakily, Hilda bringing most of the others behind a massive boulder and Raphael running away, towards the knights.

"Leonie, no! Go back to safety, this is the duty of Claude and me to defend you and the others!" Screamed Lorenz, who was breathing heavily.

"Ah, stop it already! You really want to die for your stupid nobility?" Yelled Leonie, more out of the stress of the situation than actual anger directed at her classmate.

Then, the Demonic Beast plunged forward, roaring mightily as it intended to shoot fire in the redhead's direction. Just like Claude earlier, she dodged the attack as Lorenz attempted to pierce the creature's torso, to no avail. While he admittedly caused a light scratch, it wouldn't do if they wanted to kill this thing.

Claude then sighed from desperation as he aimed for the monster with his bow. However, he realized that if they wanted to win this fight and get out of it alive, then they would have to play it smart. Thus, Claude decided to save his arrows for better opportunities and moved around, trying to get a good angle at its sensible parts, which was difficult because of the Beast's frantic movements.

Meanwhile, Leonie looked on with wide eyes as Lorenz found himself right in the monster's face, stumbling away in an attempt to evade the creature's wrath. When it attacked with its clawed paw, the heir of the Gloucester got cut on his right arm as he managed to jump away from a deadly blow. Now, however, his wounded limb was bleeding heavily as he squirmed over in pain.

Now at the mercy of the monster, Lorenz looked up with tearful eyes as the Beast was about to finish him off. At this moment, though, a huge, blonde figure ran right past him and swung a gigantic hammer right in the creature's face, actually managing to make it flinch and stumble away.

Raphael was back, with a weapon that he had 'borrowed' from the knights of Seiros' beasts of burdens. He was preparing to make good use of it once again as he glanced back at the two lancers behind him. Leonie then helped Lorenz get up by wrapping his left arm around her shoulders and nodded to the mountain of a man.

The young Gloucester then looked on in shame as Raphael and Claude resumed the tango that they had begun with the Demonic Beast, with one distracting the thing while the other attempted an attack. Unfortunately, Lorenz had no choice but to retreat in his state, and the faster he was brought to safety, the faster Leonie could go help the two young men who were currently risking their lives.

* * *

During her students' life-or-death struggle, Byleth was not having that great of a time herself. Indeed, instead of at least being able to rely on someone else to direct the attention of the monster she was facing to someone else from time to time, she was instead forced to endure the unending assault of the Beast while trying to find a way to defeat it on her own.

The thing was that her body had its limits, and jumping around incessantly was going to tire her out rather quickly. Thus, her quick-mindedness was going to be a great asset, as always.

This was not the first time that she was fighting a monster. After all, not many merchants have the means to hunt them off the commercial roads on their own, and thus mercenaries like herself and her father had often been hired to deal with them.

However, those were normally wolves, birds or worms who had grown to disproportionate sizes after absorbing magic, essentially augmented wild animals. This Demonic Beast, however, was different and she could feel it. Its movement were completely unnatural, with spasms shaking its entire body constantly, on top of being able to breathe fire.

In order to triumph, Byleth knew that she could not only rely on dealing damage and making it bleed out. Instead, she would first have to incapacitate it. Fortunately, while vastly different from wild animals in behavior, the body of the Beast was still quadrupedal with legs, wrists and ankles, full of delicate nerves and tendons which were quite important for motion.

Encouraged by her new plan of action, the former mercenary then frowned as she focused and rushed for one of the monster's back legs. She was going to cut its mobility short by removing its usage from its hind leg, then she would follow suite with the other limbs before going for the throat.

When she was about to strike, however, the rocky terrain she was fighting on betrayed her as a small rock rolled under her foot, causing her to lose balance for a second. This little time was far too much and the monster managed to strike her and send her on her back. Then, the Beast used a paw to hold her down as the other moved in to cut her guts open. As the claws hit, a screaming pain erupted from Byleth's abdomen as blood was sprayed on the ground around her.

_***** STOP *****_

_All of a sudden, everything ceased. The pain, the growls, the movement. At this moment, the professor realized that, just like when she died against that bandit, Sothis had stopped time to save her. This time, however, no vision of her throne came, just the weirdly-colored view of the world that she had in this state._

"**Are you serious? What is it with you and dying lately?**_" Came a familiar high-pitched voice in her mind._

_Sighing internally, Byleth then came back in time in order to fix her mistake._

_***** REWIND *****_

Encouraged by her new plan of action, the former mercenary then frowned as she focused and rushed for one of the monster's back legs. She was going to cut its mobility short by removing its usage from its hind leg, then she would follow suite with the other limbs before going for the throat.

This time, though, the former mercenary paid a little more mind to the state that the battlefield was in, and thus she could avoid being transformed into monster food in the immediate future.

However, the extra carefulness that she had needed in order not to die cost her her opening, and she was thus back to square one in regards to fighting the thing.

Alright, that was not going to be a fun one.

* * *

Since the Demonic Beasts had attacked most of the battalion right away, none of the people who were lucky enough to have stayed at the pathway – namely, all but one – had been able to either assist or even take notice of Link's current situation.

After a few seconds of Hylian cursing, the blonde outsider then reacted quickly and reached for his Sheikah Slate with one hand while holding on the Master Sword with the other. In his free fall, he took a second to store his current weapon and then managed to materialize the Kite out of it, just quickly enough to deploy it over his head and change his trajectory, which was going right into an extruding boulder on the cliff.

He could cheat his way out of that one even without the Kite, but it would have been quite painful regardless.

As the Kite barely slowed down his speed, Link decided that he needed to get a grip on some surface in order to at least become stationary. Unfortunately, the ground was still far below him, and the other people above would probably need his help if more of these hideous things were to appear, and as such he couldn't afford to wait any longer.

Thus, the Hylian directed his aerial path in the direction of the Cliffside besides him. As he approached, he braced himself from the impact. After all, his speed had not been diminished all that much by the kite yet and it meant that he would need to grip the vertical, rocky surface well.

Right as he was about to attain his current goal, however, Link suddenly found himself pushed away, further in the Red Canyon. It was not only a sudden gust of wind that had derailed him, however, since the Hero of Hyrule could still feel the force that was dragging him along: it was strong and continuous. As he looked up to see what was messing with his precious Kite, Link yelled both from shock and exasperation when he saw two enormous clawed paws which were holding tightly on the mean of aerial transportation.

"What the..? Get off, you son of a-"

Not long after, whatever had caught him threw him away, with the force with which it did so causing one of Link's hands to lose grip. As a result, the Hylian found himself practically helpless as he spiraled down the cliff, trying to regain control of his fall. He didn't benefit from enough time to do so, however, and crashed right into a small platform, not far from where the bandit group had been entirely slaughtered.

When his body landed, though, there was not any drop of blood nor any sickening crunching sound that you would expect from a human – or Hylian – falling from this height.

Instead, while he fell on his back on the hard, unforgiving rock, a green light enveloped his figure while another green aura emanated from him, taking a humanoid form. However, instead of a huge, rotund man with a booming voice, the new apparition was thin and graceful, seemingly holding its hands in a praying position as it said with a feminine voice:

"_**I will protect you…"**_

With the shock of the impact against the ground having temporarily stopped him from breathing, Link gasped for air as he sat up. Resting on his rear, he cringed from the pain running from his back. While the feminine entity that had just appeared was great at preventing death, he was still afflicted with the sensation of the wounds that led him to this point.

When he opened his eyes, his expression turned to anger as he looked up and noticed the culprit for his unfortunate fall: what looked like a deformed, gigantic bird. And it wasn't even just one, as a few more were descending to his position. To make matters worse, the Demonic Beast who had just finished off its group of thugs had seen the Hylian's fall, as well as his ensuing survival, and was now walking toward him with a ferocious glare.

Link's response to this chaotic mess was to simply sigh before he got up and stretched.

Now, there was no time to lose on useless grandeur or ridiculous killing methods, nor could he afford to ever drop his guard, especially with so many opponents surrounding him.

Now, all bets were off. Those freaks were going to regret catching him on a bad mood.

* * *

Now down to only Claude, Leonie and Raphael being able to be close to the Beast without getting instantly shredded into tiny pieces, the Golden Deer House found itself in quite a bad posture as the rest of their members were trying to come up with a reasonable plan. Lorenz looked over the boulder they were hiding behind and scowled as he tried to figure out a weakness to exploit.

"This monster… it is mostly impervious to our attacks… We need to try to attack it with magic." He deduced, still holding his wounded arm. As he spoke, Lysithea nodded slowly and looked on as well.

"Alright, I can try something… I can't do a lot of attacks, though, so they each need to count."

"Good." Lorenz said with a small nod. "What about you, Marianne?"

"I…" The blue-haired girl then glanced at the young Gloucester as panic overtook her just at the idea to confront the creature. Seeing her like this, Lorenz decided not to insist. Ignatz, however, spoke up.

"You should only shoot when no one's between the beast and us. Just to be sure not to… hurt anyone…"

"Yeah, I figured. When you have something not obvious to say, tell me." The cadet member of the class said with a frown as she tried to determine a good moment to strike. To this end, she got out of cover and, when a good opportunity rose, she threw a Miasma Dealta spell in the direction of the Demonic Beast.

For Leonie, Raphael and Claude, it was a relief to see the dark ball of pure energy hit the head of the thing with enough force to send it back a few centimeters. As the smoke created by the attack's explosion cleared out, the blond Axe wielder cheered as he could now see that a part of the monster's face's skin had been blown right off, with some scraps barely hanging on as the Beast roared in pain.

Cheers soon turned to horror, however, when the terrifying creature's next course of action was to stare right in Lysithea's direction. Then, it brought its front paws to the ground and prepared to jump on the frail girl, like a cat preying on a terrified mouse.

As a defense mechanism, Lysithea created another attack that she sent in the enemy's direction. However, the monster saw it coming from miles away and jumped to the side before it roared. So loudly, in fact, that the young mage didn't merely hear it. She, along with the rest of the Golden Deer, felt the sound vibrate in their entire body.

Right as it was about to actually attack, though, Claude rapidly took aim before shooting right into the thing's eye, which had now been possible thanks to the monster's relative immobility. The Beast then whimpered as it covered its face with its front paws, and thus stopping to give unwanted attention to Lysithea, who didn't waste time going back to cover. The monster did not let this attack slide, however, as it trashed around blindly, attempting to strike with either its paws, jaws, tail or fire.

Raphael and Leonie managed to get far quickly enough. Claude, who had just attacked, did not have the same luck. While he did avoid a lethal claw strike, he was blindsided when the creature's tail whipped right on him, knocking him unconscious instantly. His classmates looked on in horror as he fell limply on the ground. Those who were close to the thing had to resume to attract its attraction to protect Claude while those hidden away decided of a plan of action.

"Okay, someone needs to go grab him and bring him here!" Hilda said before looking back expectantly to her companions of fortune. Lorenz scowled.

"What are you looking at me for? I am down an arm! And none of the other three present could easily carry Claude to safety."

Then, the pink-haired girl grunted as she realized that, for once, Lorenz had a valid point. He was incapacitated, Marianne was paralyzed by fear, and both Ignatz and Lysithea were too physically weak.

She needed to do something. Quickly.

Taking a few deep breaths to psych herself up, the young woman then slowly got out of cover, making sure that the Beast's attention was still fixated on Leonie and Raphael, the latter of which kept the monster at bay with his massive hammer. When she was certain that she wasn't going to be attacked, she ran to her House Leader's location and then began to place him over her shoulder.

For someone as slender as her, not many would expect her to carry someone of almost twice her weight with not much effort, but Hilda managed this exploit nonetheless.

Still observing the scene from the safety of the huge boulder he was hiding behing, Lorenz uttered a slight sigh of relief as the young Goneryl began to walk back to his location with Claude in tow.

Unfortunately, as the Beast approached Raphael one too many times, the enormous youngster smashed his massive weapon right in the monster's wounded face, making it flinch and jerk its head to the side in pain. As it did so, its functional eye then was right in the right angle to take notice of Hilda, who was vulnerable as she was not only carrying an unconscious man, but she was also unarmed. Deciding that this target would be more worth the effort than the two tedious teenagers who were distracting it up to that point, the Demonic Beast growled as it went to the pink-haired girl.

Back to the safe haven that was the boulder, Lorenz mentally panicked as he desperately tried to come up with a good idea to deal with the thing before two of his classmates got killed. Since up until now, only Lysithia's magic blast had done considerable damage, then magic would be the thing they needed.

Not wasting time with ordering his younger, white-haired companion to do anything, Lorenz jumped forward as his left hand began to glow with an orange aura.

Mastered or not, a Fire spell was exactly the thing that they needed at this moment. The violet-haired lad thus raised his non-harmed arm forward and focused as the Beast approached Hilda dangerously.

Then, the orange energy around his hand expanded uncontrollably right before it fired.

The result of the poorly executed technique was an enormous blast of heat and fire which was sent right on the monster's body, barely passing over Hilda and Claude. While the sheer power unleashed made the thing stop in its tracks as it screeched, Lorenz himself was blown away by the counter-force of the blast.

As Leonie and Raphael rushed over to provide Hilda some cover, the air was suddenly filled with both the Beast and Lorenz' agonizing screams.

Indeed, while his stunt managed to damage the monster a lot, it was only the case because he lost control of the magic power due to his currently panicked mental state. As a result, the Fire spell's power rose through the roof, but all safety that normally came with its usage was utterly gone.

As Hilda looked up to see who had saved her, her eyes widened in both disgust and shock as she saw Lorenz on the ground, speechless as he stared at the charred carcass that was once his left hand. The pink-haired girl then grabbed on the young Gloucester's right hand as she used her free one to hold onto Claude and then proceeded to bring both to safety.

As she dropped the two wounded boys behind the refuge that she had come from, Hilda panted as Lorenz held his left wrist in pure agony.

"H-how… How did this happen?" He said shakily, trembling from the shock. Lysithea then took a look at his burned hand and shook her head.

"You used a spell that you had no control over, and now you're in this state…" She then looked over to Marianne, who was just as saddened as she was disturbed by the Gloucester's new injury. "You! Come over and heal him as much as you can!"

"What?" Marianne shook her head rapidly as well, closing her eyes. "No… I can't do anything. Faith doesn't just…"

"Marianne!" Lysithea yelled, losing the last bit of patience that she had managed to keep since the beginning of this mess. "You can at least ease his pain!"

"I… I'll just make it wor-"

*****SMACK*****

The blue-haired girl's retorted was cut short by a slap given to her by the younger mage, who now gritted her teeth as a very short silence befell the two, before Lysithea spoke again. "I didn't ask for your opinion, but to help him. And Claude too, while you're at it."

Marianne then blushed from shame as she regained her senses and looked over to Lorenz. "O-okay, I'll do what I can…"

The young devout then positioned her hands around both of her violet-haired classmate's arms and breathed in as her hands began to glow in a green light. Instantly, Lorenz was able to relax his body as the pain in both limbs lessened.

While Marianne went on to help Claude regain consciousness, Lysithea looked on to the monster, who was now having trouble with Leonie and Raphael due to it being disoriented by the misfired Fire spell, as well as having most of its front body burned. Nevertheless, it was still far from dead, without taking into consideration that the lancer and hammer wielder were tiring out at this point after serving as distractions for so long. At this point, Ignatz came to see himself with a hint of reflection in his nervous face.

"Lysithea, I think that I know how to beat this thing."

"Alright, tell it now." Lysithea said bluntly.

"Do you think that your magic could break off a part of the pathway?"

While the glasses-wearing boy was explaining his plan to his white-haired companion, Raphael tried to swing his weapon at the monster's head. Unfortunately for him, his movements had become too slow and his attack was easily avoided.

The huge blonde looked up, almost in resignation, as the Demonic Beast began to charge up a particularly powerful fire attack. Panting heavily from exhaustion, the overly muscled boy tried to run out of its range, dropping the hammer to give himself some speed. When the flames were sent everywhere around the creature, Raphael was able to feel the heat of it in his back, but he did not suffer any damage.

As he looked back, he saw that it was now targeting Leonie, who was just as tired as he was himself, and despair began to take place as it was about to strike.

It was infuriating, Raphael told to himself. After all these years, a monster would be the end of his as well, along with those he tried to save.

For the n-th time during this fight, however, an attack perturbed the Beast's focus as an arrow hit it right in the exposed flesh of its lower jaw. That's when Raphael saw who had come under the fray.

Ignatz, his best friend, looking up at the enemy with absolute terror as he stood near the edge of the pathway with a bow in his hands.

Predictably, the monster abandoned Leonie as a target in favor of the more rested – and thus more dangerous – green-haired lad, who easily managed to escape the first strike that was coming to him. Then, though, happened something that the blond young man did not see coming.

Arriving from outside of his field of vision, a dark ball of magic hit the ground under the Beast's feet, causing a strong enough shockwave to make it lose its balance. The most impactful effect of the attack, however, was the rocky path now cracking under the weight of the creature and Lysithea's attack's sheer power. Only now understanding what was going on, the monster tried to jump away, at least further away from the edge of the ravine.

The pressure that this action put on the now unstable ground, however, was the last straw and made the rock under it collapse, causing it to begin to fall. Ignatz, who at first seemed elated that his plan had worked, had unfortunately not walked away enough and shrieked as the ground under him broke as well.

"No, no no no no no NO!"

As the glasses-wearing boy panicked and extended his arms in order to try to grab for the closest edge of solid ground, he closed his eyes as he was sure that he was going to fall to his death…

Only for a solid grip to suddenly take a hold of his hand. As he opened his eyes again, he saw Leonie struggling to bring him up.

"DON'T LET GO! DON'T LET GO!" He yelled, more out of fright than anything as he went back to stable ground. Panting heavily, Ignatz then smiled in relief as victory was seemingly assured.

This instance was short-lived, however, when one of the Demonic Beast's paws to grip the edge as well, with the thing trying to climb back to safety.

At this point, however, came Raphael. Tired of this fight, he retrieved his hammer and walked over to the magic blast's impact.

"Alright, now you've made enough comebacks like that, you big dumb lizard." At these words, he then brought the weapon over his head and smashed on the paw as hard as he could.

With another shriek, the monster finally let go for good, falling down the cliff as its desperate roar filled the Red Canyon. Meanwhile, Leonie began to laugh out as she let go of her adrenaline. She then looked to Ignatz and realized that he was still holding on to her hand.

"Ha... heh, Ignatz, you can let go, now. You know that?"

Blushing slightly out of embarrassment, the green-haired boy then released the redhead's hand as Raphael let himself fall on his back with a content smile.

"Urgh… We did it, guys. We did it."

"Yes." Ignatz said simply before he looked down the ravine with an exhausted expression as he addressed Leonie. "I know you said that we would face dangerous situations, but…"

"Yeah, I know." The redhead responded as she glanced to the boulder that the others were hidden behind. "Let's see how the others are doing, alright?"

* * *

As the students of the Golden Deer were finishing off their Demonic Beast, the pace of the still ongoing battle between their professor and her own monster was quite different.

Indeed, rather than relying on distractions and lucky hits to defeat her opponent, Byleth preferred to stand her ground, readying her sword in a defensive stance as the creature tried to attack her. Already, one of its paws was bleeding a black oozing liquid as the aftermath of a poorly calculated strike at the former mercenary.

As the Beast roared in both rage and hunger, it nevertheless plunged in Byleth's direction, incapable of forming any better strategy than 'attack'.

This time, though, it was rushing at her with its entire weight, and as such she couldn't afford to stay in place and wound whatever limb it tried to use against her. Thus, the new teacher decided to jump as well, but forward, right below the Beast's belly as it tried to attack the place where she had been only one second ago.

Taking advantage of the opportunity that she had created herself, Byleth then thrusted her blade upwards, directly into the monster's insides. As a pained scream erupted from the thing's body, the former mercenary squinted her eyes due to the black blood that was now pouring from the newly-created wound. Then, because the Beast was becoming more and more erratic, Byleth rolled away from its body before she got up and readied herself for battle again.

The Demonic Beast was now squirming over in pain, uncontrollably trashing around out of frustration. During this short period of unpredictability, the professor decided against trying to attack it again.

Once the thing regained what little control that it previously had over itself, it seemed as though the battle could finally resume.

However, instead of trying to rush Byleth as it had done multiple times previously, an aura of dark-red energy began to emanate from its body as it got on its two hind legs, glaring at the new teacher menacingly.

From what Byleth could remember from when she fought wild Monsters, one would begin to behave in this manner when it was about to unleash a powerful attack. Usually, it came in the form of dirt that a wolf would dig up and throw around, or something as predictable and avoidable as the sort.

However, what came next wasn't what she had expected at all. Rather than reach for a nearby object to throw at her or trashing on the ground, a filet of smoke began to escape from the Demonic Beast's mouth before it rose straight and, to Byleth's horror, began shooting fireballs all around itself. The end result was a terribly painful firestorm in its vicinity that enveloped Byleth and gravely burned all of the skin surface that wasn't covered by her clothing, the latter which didn't do that great of a job at it.

The former mercenary let out a pained cry right before the attack ended, at which point her vision cleared and what she could see was the Beast, looking frustrated to no end, looking down on her as it prepared to strike again. As for Byleth herself, she was looking rather worse for wear, with melted skin on the arm that she had used to cover her face and stinking smoke emanating from her other burns.

Before the thing's clawed paws could make contact with her again, rather than endure the pain another time, the blue-haired woman then focused as hard as she could to recreate the effects of the Divine Pulse without dying first.

_*****STOP*****_

At this point, the world around Byleth ceased moving entirely, with the notable exception of shard-like apparitions that appeared out of nowhere, everywhere, and who disappeared as soon as they came with a sound resembling the one of glass shattering.

Now reassured to not have to take another lethal cut, Byleth mentally let out a sigh of relief as she decided on an appropriate moment to come back and do over.

Now that she thought of it, maybe she could go before the battle even started and warn everyone? After all, if Link didn't get pushed into the canyon, then he could probably help her with her current problem.

As she tried to go as far as she could, however, she realized that she only could go to the point to where she engaged the Demonic Beast in combat, a few seconds after the start of the fight. She attempted to go further back, but to her frustration it turned out to be impossible.

"Urgh, why can I only go that far?" She wondered, with her voice echoing as though she was in a void.

"_**It seems that you can only rewind until the beginning of a battle, or to when you become in actual danger…"**_ Came the disembodied voice of Sothis in response.

"That's a rather arbitrary limitation, if that's the case." Retorted the former mercenary with a deadpan tone. "Anyway, if I can't warn everyone, then I'll just go back to before the firestorm. No need to cancel my efforts up to that point."

"_**Yes, fair enough, but don't get into unnecessary trouble again. I can feel that you won't be able to rewind much often…"**_

"Fine. I'll finish it as quickly as I can, then."

_*****REWIND*****_

However, instead of trying to rush Byleth as it had done multiple times previously, an aura of dark-red energy began to emanate from its body as it got on its two hind legs, glaring at the new teacher menacingly.

Instead of staying and trying to block the supposed incoming attack, Byleth decided to run away from the monster, getting out of its range as quickly as possible.

It seemed to be an effective strategy, since the monster then suddenly interrupted its charging up as it saw its prey fleeing in this manner. Thus, it instead ran after the professor, although it was limping due to its wounded front paw.

After luring the Beast out of its attack like this, Byleth then gained a confident frown as she turned around and waited for the deformed creature to come at her, sword risen up in the air. As it came closer, it tried to grab her with its unscathed arm, but the former mercenary was ready to react quickly and slashed at it in the same way that she had done previously.

Then, as the monster let out a surprised roar, Byleth risked it all and ran forward, profiting of the thing's shock to her advantage. She readied her blade and cut smoothly at the Beast's neck, opening its throat.

After this last attack, the Demonic Beast then stumbled a bit away from the professor as it reached for its neck with its harmed hands before it attempted to scream and attack again. However, it was losing blood quickly and it was thus only capable of a few clumsy steps before collapsing on the ground, with the sound of its struggled and gurgling breathing persisting for a little while, indicating that the thing was still, even if barely, alive.

Breathing heavily from near exhaustion, which was quite understandable after such an intense battle, Byleth waited for a few seconds to make sure that her opponent would not wake up or otherwise turn not to be relatively unharmed by her attacks. Fortunately, it did not move any further. Looking down the pathway, she could also see that the Knights of Seiros were finishing off their own Beast while a Faith user tended to Alois, who still seemed to have quite the headache from the vicious hit he received at the beginning of the fight.

Now that the adrenaline rush was over, Byleth finally took notice of the few small cuts that she had received during the battle, other than the lethal, cancelled ones. However, what was more noticeable was the black substance that was now covering most of her body, with the sticky feeling that it brought making the blue-haired mercenary quite uncomfortable. It was undoubtedly the blood of the creature that had poured out on her when she attacked the Beast's belly and throat.

With the battle seemingly over, she then looked up at the direction from which the battalion and the Golden Deer House had come from, in order to see if her students were still alright.

When she saw the forms of a few of them on the ground, with the rest tending to their wounded classmates, however, Byleth's eyes widened up slightly before she rushed to see them.

* * *

While the scuffle between the battalion and the Beasts was happening a few dozen meters higher, Link was focused on his own fight, and the Goddess knew that he need all the focus he could gather.

A few bodies belonging to Giant Birds were already scattered on the improvised battlefield as the rest carefully stalked the Hylian around, trying to attack him without immediately being riddled with inexplicably quickly shot arrows. The Demonic Beast that had killed most of the bandits, for its part, was busy trying to catch up to the puny human running around.

The Hero of Hyrule's strategy was simple, but proven to be effective: he was moving as much as he could, no matter if he was aiming, shooting or just observing his enemies' positions. Coupled with his decent speed, it made it hard for the monsters to launch a powerful attack, since their target was constantly in movement.

Even then, however, no tactic is perfect. Notably, when he was trying to shoot at one bird so he could get rid of it, he would often be sneaked on from behind by one of its buddies. As a result, not only were there still plenty of flying suckers to take care of, but the Hylian himself was beginning to accumulate small wounds and cuts all over his body. To top it all off, his champions' outfit's shirt was almost reduced to shreds.

"God… Damnit…" Link cursed between two heavy breathings before looking quickly at his surroundings. "I have to find somewhere where I could…"

Then, during his quick search, he finally found what he was looking for: a vantage point in the form of a pillar, broken at around ten meters off the ground. After this little discovery, the Hylian grinned as he sprinted up in order to outpace his pursuers.

Surprised by his sudden change of attitude, the gigantic avians then took a few seconds to change their momentum in order to match Link's direction. The man was quite quick, however, and they would need a little time to catch him if he were to suddenly stop…

Which he did, crouching down and resting his hands on the ground as he inhaled slowly.

After around two seconds, a strong gust of wind then erupted from seemingly nowhere, spiraling around Link as it went up in the air while the ground around the Hylian's feet glowed in a green color. Satisfied at this outcome, Link let out a sigh of relief before bringing his Kite over his head.

As soon as he did so, the gust grew stronger by several order of magnitude as Link rocketed up in the air. Two Giant Birds, who had begun their descent to attack him, found themselves striking at nothing as the outsider simply went out of the way.

After this, however, he found himself in a rather delicate position, as he was now slowly gliding down with no real obvious way of defending himself while his opponents were quite accustomed to aerial battling. This did not seem to bother Link, though, as he was landing on the broken top of the pillar he had noticed earlier.

Once he regained solid footing, he then withdrew the Master Sword, still hanging on his back, and looked around to see which monster would attack first. The Demonic Beast was still far away, so only the Birds were any sort of threatening for now.

Since his signature weapon used his life force for its ranged attacks, however, it meant that he couldn't perform the blade beams that he did against Kostas' cronies, back when he helped out at Remire. As such, his ranged options were limited to bows and a last trump card. As a few birds began descending toward him, Link grinned as he raised his sword to the side.

First, he had used the Protection to save a man.

Then, the Grace prevented him a quite untimely death.

Then, the Gale allowed him to place himself at the optimal place.

Now, though, it was time to demonstrate the last of the Champions' runes, and the most destructive one.

The Fury.

One second after taking his new stance, electricity began crackling around Link's Master Sword as a green sphere expanded around the Hylian, indicating the area of effect of his next attack. To be frank, he found it quite convenient.

Then, when the flying monsters entered the magical area without care, Link swung his sword in the air, triggering the attack. Immediately, thunder came crashing on five different Birds, killing them instantly and thus giving some time for Link to think of another plan as the rest of the monsters scattered away in surprise.

Seeing the Demonic Beast approaching fearlessly, surely intending to attack him, Link then reached for his Sheikah Slate and materialized a steel bow out of it, just like those that one would find in Fodlan's weapon shops. Readying the new weapon, Link then jumped off the pillar as he took aim for the Beast's head.

Then, from the Hylian's perspective, time seemed to slow down as his focus reached its maximum. In this state, he was able to think clearly and quickly, and his movements became just as fast. He shot an arrow in the Beast's direction, then he reached back to his quiver and shot another. Then another.

Once he landed on the ground, Link had shot no less than eight projectiles in less than two seconds which, all things considered, was rather sloppy for what he could perform prior. As he thought about how he needed to practice some more once he got back to the monastery, the blond outsider then gripped his sword once more and used Urbosa's Fury a second time, striking the Demonic Beast and paralyzing it.

While it could not move, a few well-placed slashes put a quick end to the fight as the rest of the Bird flock came back.

However, Link knew that he could make a short work of them. With half of them being struck down by lightning and the bigger Demonic Beast being slain as well, it was now going to be a cakewalk.

* * *

As Byleth approached the boulder near which her students had placed themselves, she was able to notice what had happened more clearly. Notably, Lorenz and Claude were both being tended to by both Marianne and a Priest from the battalion. The young Riegan had a thin filet of blood running down from his hair, indicating a head wound, while the violet-haired lad was breathing heavily due to the pain caused by his burned left hand. Raphael and Leonie, for their part, were simply taking a rest as they looked on their harmed teammates with worry.

At first, the professor had wondered what could have possibly occurred for such injuries to be inflicted. When she looked further up the pathway, she took notice of the cinders on the ground as well as a collapsed part of the path.

No sign of a dead monster's body, though. That was quite odd.

"Professor!" Exclaimed Ignatz with an elated smile. "You're doing well!"

"Yes, I am." Confirmed Byleth, before she looked upon the rest of the class again. "What happened to you? Did another monster come?"

"Yes…" The glasses-wearing boy then looked over at the field of the Golden Deer's battle before he sighed out. "It came really close to kill us. Several times, even. Luckily, Raphael and Leonie held on for long enough."

"I see." The former mercenary then observed the battlefield a bit more with a slight frown. "Where is the monster? Did it go away?"

"Oh no, Byleth!" Came the voice of Leonie, smiling proudly and resting her back on the boulder as her chest moved up and down from her heavy breathing. "We sent it down the canyon after we scorched its face off. Now, it must have splashed in the bottom."

"You sent the Beast down? How?"

Then, as Leonie, Raphael, Ignatz and Lysithea brought in the tale of their victory, Byleth's expression slowly turned from neutral to surprised, but when it arrived to the point of Claude's injury and Lorenz' attempt at saving him and Hilda, she was taken slightly aback.

"I thought it was the Beast who burned him like this… This is really bad." Admitted the professor as she could now clearly see the scorched flesh that had been Lorenz' hand. The youngster, for his part, was cringing in pain as the Priest was wrapping it in bandages to protect it from infection. Lysithea then chimed in the conversation.

"It is bad indeed. Faith can augment the body's natural capacity to heal, as well as giving the body more life force, but there's still a limit to what the body itself can heal."

"Really?" Byleth asked with raised eyebrows. "I've never really been good with magic…"

"Well, my personal specialty is Reason, but I do know a trick or two in Faith." Lysithea admitted before checking on Claude, who had woken up and was being told about what happened by Hilda. Byleth then sighed as she reflected on the situation.

"One thing is sure, those two can't walk to the monastery on their own and Leonie and Raphael seem completely exhausted." As the professor finished her reasoning, Alois came from behind her.

"Yes, don't worry professor. We already have a proper vehicle for the wounded right outside the canyon… If the third Beast didn't attack it." The Warrior then rubbed his mustache as he observed his surroundings. "It is still quite strange…"

"What is?" Inquired Byleth.

"This attack, it does not make any sense. Wild Demonic Beasts do not usually attack in group, even less so in such an ambush." He then looked over to the ravine. "There were also these birds who went straight for Mister Link when he fell down. Poor man, he didn't deserve such a fate."

Right as he finished speaking, a sudden gust of wind then suddenly erupted from deeper down the ravine, slightly startling Alois and the Golden Deer students. However, contrary to what they may have feared, there was no monster who came back to extend this nightmare any further.

Instead, the one who rose up from seemingly nowhere was none other than Link himself, laughing triumphantly as he saw that he had finally arrived at destination. Now slowly gliding down on the ground, he nodded as he concluded that the monster attack had been dealt with here as well. When he landed, he stored his kite in his Slate and walked over to Byleth and Alois. Despite the fact that his shirt had been completely torn apart with only pieces hanging on and that his body was covered in blood, cuts and bruises, the Hylian did not seem to be hindered by pain. At least, that was if his wide grin was of any indication.

"Phew, these flying bastards were a pain, but I managed to get rid of them without too much problems." Exclaimed the Hero of Hyrule while putting his hands on his hips. Byleth, for her part, raised an eyebrow incredulously.

"Without problems, huh…"

"Well, I'll have to admit that I had never had to fight anything like that. A flock of around fifteen flying monsters isn't what I usually fought before…" Then, the Hylian's expression became much more serious when he saw the state of the students of the Golden Deer. He then walked over and cringed as he saw what had happened to Lorenz.

Alois, meanwhile, was still completely stupefied to see the blond outsider being alive at all.

"Mister Link, if I may ask…" When Link turned around, confirming that the Warrior had his attention, he continued. "Can you tell me how you could defeat so many monsters at once? And how did you come back?"

"Oh, that? Well, I just fought them like I've always fought monsters back in Hyrule. As for the comeback, well… It's a long story, and I'm not in the mood to explain it right now."

"That is fair enough." Admitted Alois before he looked up the pathway. "Now, let's bring these two young men to the cart and bring everyone back to Garreg Mach. And let's keep a high spirit! It could have been way worse…"

* * *

**Author's notes:**

**So, the first assignment is completed! However, things have been far different from what they should have. The next chapter will focus on the aftermath of this one. Just like the ninth, the tenth chapter will be quite pivotal to the story.**

**And this is it for notes. To all those who still read this story and to my beta-readers, I do thank you all and thank you for your support and feedback! I couldn't find the heart to continue **_**The Legend of Fodlan**_** If it weren't for you.**


	10. Ch 10 - Bandit Arc, Aftermath

Fodlan year: 1178

Guardian Moon

It was still early in the morning when Bernadetta woke up from her restless slumber, if the dim light coming through her small window was of any indication. Rubbing her dry eyes and stretching slightly, the young Varley sat up on her tiny bed before she noticed that she felt just as weak as the last day.

After a few minutes of sitting there mindlessly, the frail girl's mind awakened somewhat as evidenced by her resuming to move once again. She slowly got up from her bed and walked over to her personal desk without bothering to arrange her messy morning hair.

Once she arrived to her destination, she glanced down at what was on the little bureau. It was a half-finished scarf that she was intending to wear during those nightmarish winters – even though they were nothing when compared to what Faerghus had to endure during the same months. Bernadetta sighed as she got down and resumed knitting.

After this, nothing that much interesting happened in the frail girl's morning. She simply passed her time by continuing this small project of hers, without any intervention from her parents or the house's servants. She would not have it any other way.

As if instinctively, Bernadetta ended up looking through her window in order to determine what time it was. Coincidentally, her room happened to be on the side of the house which faced the sun all day long, and as such it was easy for the young Varley to judge the time of day. As usual, she looked outside right as it was about to be noon. That meant that one of the servants would soon bring her some small meal.

Right before she finished looking outside, however, something unusual caught the attention of the fragile girl. Two cavaliers were approaching the house. One was tall and blonde, while the other one was massive… It was her uncle! Her heart being suddenly lightened by the sight, Bernadetta went back to her desk with a little smile.

After she had fallen sick, her father must have called him over to check on her. For once, she could appreciate her father's decision, even if it was just him providing her with a more suitable company than his own.

Over the usual dinner period that she would have had, no food came to the young Varley's room, which did surprise her slightly. However, she was so happy at the prospect of seeing her uncle again that she didn't truly mind such a small inconvenience.

Early in the afternoon, she finally heard the noise of footsteps that were coming up the stairs in the direction of her little peaceful haven. Glancing nervously in the direction of the door, Bernadetta flinched slightly when the sounds of knocking suddenly erupted from the other side. Then, her nervousness lessened considerably when the bombastic voice of her uncle came in.

"Hey, Bernie? It's Jonas! Could you open the door, please?"

After she slowly got on her feet and walked over to the door, the young Varley paused for a second as she noticed the wonderful scent that emanated from the outside of her room which heavily resembled soup. The domestic must have come at the same time as her uncle, she thought, because he never was much of a cook himself.

When she opened the door, Bernadetta briefly froze as alongside the smiling figure of Jonas was standing the blonde man who had accompanied him during the last New Year's Eve's celebrations. He had a blank expression and was currently holding the pot which presumably contained the potage that she had smelled. Jonas, for his part, gave his niece a little wave of his hand.

"How are you doing, my little champion?"

"Not well, uncle… I'm feeling really sick. Should I stay in my room for a while?" Said the little girl with a hint of hope in her eyes.

"Well, I will be the judge of this." Responded the large nobleman as he turned to his blond companion. "Mister Link, could you stay outside while I examine Bernie? I will be taking her meal inside."

"All right, do your magic." Was the Hylian's simple answer as he handed the pot over.

Jonas then came inside of the room and deposited the bag that he had brought over to the Varley's mansion on Bernadetta's bed. He looked over to her and gently asked:

"Now, please sit on your bed."

After she complied, Bernadetta remained immobile as her uncle pressed his thumb at the junction between her neck and her chin, so he could check her heartbeat. While it was normal, Jonas noticed the sweat that was on both her neck and forehead and, when he brought his finger to the latter to check its temperature, he noticed that it was abnormally high. At this point, even an amateur would have guessed correctly in regards to the frail girl's condition.

"It seems that you have caught a cold. Have you gone outside lately?"

"Uhm…" Now, Bernadetta shrank back a little as she quickly shook her head. "Nope, I didn't…"

"Okay…" The large noble said slowly. "I will use some Faith to give you strength, but first you have to eat something. Take the soup that Mister Link made just for you."

"H-he did it?" Bernadetta stuttered before she regained some composure. "Are you sure that is will help me recover?"

"Bernie, I assure you that this man is trustworthy. Your father had his suspicions as well, so Link prepared it in front of us. There's nothing in there but good things."

Then, Jonas signaled to Bernie to get up and he put the soup pot on her room's desk as well as an appropriate spoon for her to eat it with. The young Varley sighed out as she grabbed it in order to take a first taste of the Hylian recipe. Right as she did so, her eyes widened as she coughed and brought her hands to her chest. With such a reaction, Jonas worriedly leaned over.

"Is something wrong?"

"N-no…" Responded the violet-haired girl as she took in a deep breath with a relieved expression. "But it cleared up my throat a lot… and it's a bit too hot…"

At this, Jonas frowned a little as he recalled the moment when Link had added to his mixture a strange orange mushroom. He had explained to everyone present that it came from his homeland and possessed incredible curative properties. He had also eaten a second one raw in order to prove that it was not poisonous. Seeing his niece's reaction, the large nobleman was certain that it was Link's intention.

"Just blow over it before you eat it, and it will be better. I'll go search for something in the living room, I'll be back soon, okay?"

As Bernadetta nodded to him, Jonas stood up and, as he exited her room, could hear her yelp again because of the meal's heat. After he closed the door, he turned to Link, who was smirking and leaning on the wall.

"So, how did the girl like it?"

"Whatever you put in it was, it made its effect, that is for sure." Jonas admitted before he sighed out. "However, even if it gives her temporary strength, she really got ill this time. Illness is something that is vanquished with time and care, so we may have to stay for a few days."

"Alright, I see. I never really became ill myself, now that I think about it…" Reflected the blond Hylian as he looked up. "I've slept on a snowy mountain chain for nearly a month and still didn't even catch a cold…"

"Yes, some are more resilient to such things than others… I do wonder how it happened, however. She says that she didn't get outside, and from what I saw, she was well enough supplied in blankets and clothing…" At this, Link merely gave a shrug in lack or an actual answer and let the nobleman speak more. "I think that now would be a great time to tell her a story so she can think of something else, for once. Had you thought of something?"

"Oh, you bet I did." Responded Link while stretching out. "I happen to have just the right fable to inspire a timid girl."

"And may I ask what it is?"

"I had to take some… artistic liberties…" Said Link with a wink. "But the name is: _The Battle for Vah' Naboris_…"

* * *

Fodlan year: 1180

Harpstrings Moon

In the morning that followed the near disaster that had been the Zanado incident, Jeralt had decided to take advantage of the fact that he wasn't assigned to any mission at the moment. As such, he would go over to the scene of the battle in order to do some investigation in person. To this end, he had prepared his horse early and was already riding away from the monastery when the sun began to rise up at the horizon.

As he thought about Rhea, a slightly bitter mood took him over as he still couldn't understand why this fiasco had to happen in the first place. She had knowingly sent inexperienced children in the middle of what could be considered to be a monster nest; of course it was going to go badly.

If he had decided to come in person rather than letting a group of knights do the deed like Seteth would have it happen, however, it was not at all because of Rhea and her questionable decisions. It was something far more troubling.

According to Alois, Byleth and the other Knights present, the three Demonic Beasts had all attacked the group at the same time, from three different angles. This was without counting the one that Link fought and which had killed Kostas' group in the Golden Deer's stead.

This was most odd. Ususally, Demonic Beasts are too dim-minded to coordinate such an attack. On top of this, they are quite territorial creatures, so it is even strange that four were in the same zone of the canyon at the same time, let alone them teaming up. Add to this the flock of Giant Birds who inexplicably chased after a falling man instead of attacking the group close to them, and this situation became not only strange, but extremely worrying.

This could not be the work of monsters alone.

As he continued to follow the path taken by the Knights and the students during the previous day, Jeralt sighed as he ordered his horse to accelerate its pace. After all, he didn't need to be all that prudent, since the monsters were already pretty much dead.

A few minutes later, he finally arrived to his destination and took the rocky path along the cliff where one of the two main battles had happened. Already, he could see black spots on the little road, as well as a collapsed part of the edge, indicating that this was where the Golden Deer had fought.

Approaching the place that had been the impact of Lysithea's magic, the Blade Breaker leaned towards the edge and observed the depth of the ravine next to him and he concluded that the Beast that had fallen had probably not survived its fall. Before he went on, he mentally congratulated the brats' tactic in this instance, since it had assured that all of them got out of this mess alive.

As he moved on, he noticed the corpses of the two Beasts that had been left lower down the path. As expected, a large pool of their blood had dried on the rock beneath them after the knights left them to rot.

Approaching one carcass, Jeralt jerked his head to the side at the putrid scent of the monster. Despite having been tasked to hunt them several times, it was hard to get used to the odor, especially out of battle when adrenaline doesn't force you to focus on more urgent matters. Nevertheless, he still knelt down next to it and observed whatever parts had not been cut open.

At first, he directed his attention to the legs of the thing, and immediately something seemed off to him. The skin around the ankles and wrists of the Beast presented a cylindrical mark, just like what one would expect chain attaches to leave. This confirmed his suspicions about the battle being a planned assault.

It was not the first time that he had seen tamed monsters. Often in Leicester, the brigands or poachers would have a few in their ranks. No wonder Leonie's village had so much trouble. However, before it had always been birds or wolves that were tamed. Jeralt had never seen a Demonic Beast being used in this way.

Maybe the bandits who hid there had managed to do it? And this Beast who killed them would have simply gotten out of control?

No, it was not plausible. Kostas was a minor thief and murderer who would not have the competence to tame and then give complex orders to so many monsters at once.

As he got back on his feet, Jeralt decided that he would be able to get any more information out of the scene. Even if it was an organized attack, the culprits would have fled long ago. Both worried and disappointed by his findings, the Blade Breaker came back on his horse and quitted Zanado before someone back at Garreg Mach noticed his absence.

* * *

Back at the Officers' Academy, the general atmosphere was quite dense as most of the students went to their usual activities. Unlike the cacophonic chatter of the few minutes before class, a dreadful silence imposed itself on the monastery's grounds.

News had travelled quickly amongst the staff and student body. The facts that a first assignment had nearly turned to tragedy and that the probable future leader of the Leicester Alliance had been gravely injured were no secrets to anyone.

As such, the ambiance at the Training Grounds was rather tranquil since most students had their minds focused on other things than training. The only ones who did not seem perturbed were Hubert and Jeritza, who respectively watched over the area and tried to train the Black Eagles decently.

Standing over the rocky edge of the sand-filled arena, the young Edelgard held a distant gaze while she reflected on the events of the previous day. Noticing his mistress' state, Hubert did not waste a second before he walked over to her.

"Lady Edelgard, was there something that you needed us to discuss about?" He said, with an exaggerated bow.

"… Maybe." Admitted the white-haired girl before she walked off deeper into the arena's backstage, signaling her vassal to follow her. Of course, this directive was immediately followed. Once the pair was sure to have gotten out of ear's reach, Edelgard took in a deep breath before she began to explain her train of thoughts.

"I was reflecting on what happened in Zanado. Have you seen how battered everyone was?"

"Yes, I have witnessed their arrival. They definitively had a difficult time."

"Indeed. In particular, have you noticed how the Professor and Link were?" Edelgard asked once more, glancing at her servant.

"The Professor was covered in a Demonic Beast' blood, which correlates to the reports of the nights pretending that she defeated one on her own. As for the outsider…"

"He was covered in wounds." Edelgard finished her vassal's sentence as she cupped her chin into her hand in reflection. "What do you think?"

At this, Hubert raised his eyebrows and sighed slightly as he crossed his arms.

"We cannot assume him to be an ally yet, Lady Edelgard. After all, he suddenly vanished from the battle and only reappeared several moments later, once all was over and with only superficial wounds. I will continue to monitor him."

"You are probably right…" Admitted the young woman, her head dropping down in disappointment. "Still, imagine how useful a man like this could be for our cause. Without speaking of the Professor and her tactical genius…"

Upon hearing his mistress express her ambitions regarding the two mysterious individuals, Hubert couldn't help but feel reluctant at the idea. After all, Link himself was still highly suspicious and since Byleth was the teacher of another class, trying to convert her to Lady Edelgard's cause would be too demanding in time and efforts compared to what they could afford.

Meanwhile, back in the sandy arena, the young Caspar was busy performing some one-armed push-ups in order to try to build up some muscle mass while his best friend, Linhardt, contented himself with sleeping the training period away as his back leaned on the rock contour of the training grounds.

As the diminutive brawler took a small break from his workout routine, he sat on the ground and sighed out as he stretched his arms. He then took a look upon his surroundings, observing his classmates if only to entertain himself a little. During this time, his mind drifted off.

The previous day, the Golden Deer House had been attacked by a bunch of Demonic Beasts. Without warning or any way around it, they suddenly found themselves in mortal danger and barely could do anything to save their lives. While Caspar had not heard much about the details of the battle, he knew that the students had struggled greatly.

In a bizarre way, Caspar felt somewhat conflicted about the situation. On one hand, he was worried about those that had been injured during the battle, as well as glad for them to have gotten out of it alive. On the other hand, however…

He felt jealous. After all, the Golden Deer, which had performed so badly during the mock battle a while before, had now proved their improvement by defeating a Demonic Beast on their own, with nothing but their sheer will and guts. Meanwhile, Caspar was stuck at Garreg Mach and the assignment for this month would be something as insignificant as to give assistance with merchandise transport.

The young Bergliez began to wonder how his own House would have fared if they had been in the same situation. Surely, his sheer strength would have helped the team a lot. After all, if he could land a few good blows, then the rest of the Black Eagles could have finished it off…

No, even he had to recognize that this was not how it would have happened at all. If someone as beefy as Raphael Kirsten could barely faze it, then Caspar would have become mincemeat in the minute. This train of thought reminded him of what Link had told him several days prior, about how he left himself open for attacks. Being strong and fast was good, but a good blow was going to put him down without problems.

As such, Caspar decided to follow the blond outsider's advice and got up before he began to walk off to the practice weapons storage of the arena. On the way, he took notice of Petra exercising her sword strikes, Ferdinand performing a few elegant moves with his lance…

Then, the young Bergliez frowned as something highly unusual caught his attention: Bernadetta von Varley, in the middle of carrying a bow target. Because of her usual demeanor, the simple fact that she was taking initiative in any sort of activity was impressive, unless Jeritza had forced her to do so.

Even so, the violet-haired girl had been slowly, but surely becoming more active in her studies since Link had been assisting the class. In fact, his presence was helping others as well. Ferdinand, Petra and himself benefited greatly from his expertise in lances, swords and axes and with him around, Jeritza was able to spend more time teaching those that wouldn't want anything to do with the outsider, like Hubert and Edelgard.

Link's helpfulness when present made his absence today stand out much more, now that Caspar thought of it. He heard that the blond man had been wounded during the battle in Zanado, but with what the Hylian had shown to be capable of, it was difficult to believe that he had trouble when the rest of the knights were largely fine…

Unless it's because he fought so hard that they did?

Pushing these thoughts aside, Caspar redirected his attention on Bernadetta, who was now preparing her bow and fake arrows in order to practice her shooting. The brawler then grinned as he got what sounded like a great idea. He decided to approach the girl and talk to her.

"Her, Bernadetta! Could you give me a minute?"

Immediately, the little girl shrieked and turned around with an expression of fear on her face, which in turn made Caspar raise his hands in a non-threatening manner.

"Woah, woah! I just wanna ask you for help with my training!"

"Wha…" Bernadetta then looked down to check herself over before she looked back at Caspar with a pout. "I can't possibly help you train… You're trying to kill me, that's it?"

"Huh? No?" The young Bergliez then scratched his head in search of a good way to phrase his next sentence. "I wanted to practice with a shield, and I think that you could help me out by shooting at me."

Silence then imposed itself on the pair as Bernadetta processed Caspar's request.

"_You_ want _me_ to shoot at you with arrows? Why? Oh, I get it!" Her face then became defiant as she recoiled back slightly. "You're trying to get me to hurt you so you can use the church to execute meaohGoddessnoleavemealone!"

After the end of the young Varley's panicked outburst, Caspar merely sighed while he shrugged.

"I dunno what you're talking about. All I want is to exercise blocking. You'll just have to shoot with your fake arrows so you don't hurt me for real."

"F-for real?"

"Yeah, trust me!"

"Ookay… but you're responsible if you get hurt… Alright?" Bernadetta said nervously as she readied her wooden weapon.

"Yeah, I get it." In order to prove his point, Caspar then began to yell confidently at everyone present, attracting some curious glances much to the violet-haired girl's horror. "IF I GET HURT, IT'S NOT BERNIE'S FAULT! Not like I'm gonna miss a block anyway…"

Sighing while blushing intensely out of embarrassment, Bernadetta pouted as Caspar went to get a wooden shield. When he came back, he held it to the side, ready to bring it back before him at any moment, while Bernadetta took aim and was ready to shoot. Just one more second and…

"Hey, kids, are you doing what I think you're doing?"

Suddenly, a familiar and friendly voice had come out from the training pair's side, causing Bernadetta to look in its direction with an elated smile. Unfortunately, so did Caspar. When the young Varley let her shot go by accident, the blunt arrow struck the brawler square in the jaw. The poor boy winced in pain as Link looked upon the incident, slightly amused.

As for Bernadetta, the joy that she had felt when hearing her idol talk was quickly replaced by stupefaction once she actually got a good look at him.

As a result of the difficult battle that happened the day prior, the Hylian's upper body presented an alarming amount of injuries. Some were merely bruises, but most of them still presented coagulated blood, as the deep cuts made by the numerous Giant Birds' talons had yet to cicatrize. There was no doubt that these were going to add on the already high number of scars on the outsider's person.

Worst of all, at least in Link's opinion, was the fact that his Champion's tunic – his favorite – had been utterly destroyed in the process. Now, he had settled for his climbing jacket, with which he had added the assorted bandana on the top of his head, for esthetic purposes.

At the very least, his hair and beard were not as messy as before, which indicated that he had cleaned himself thoroughly in the last evening.

After a few seconds of silence, Bernadetta looked straight in Link's eyes with worry.

"Mister Link… are you feeling alright?"

After she spoke, the Hylian closed his eyes as he slowly nodded.

"You could say that. I've been battered worse than that." Link tried to reassure the frail girl, but her unchanging expression was a clear sign that it wasn't working. "I'll admit that for all of my adventures, I didn't expect a bunch of birds to be that big of a challenge…"

Now, Caspar had regained his composure after the accidental attack that he suffered from Bernadetta. Noticing Link's poor state as well, the brawler cringed slightly before he pointed to the Hylian and spoke up.

"Yeah, no kidding it was a challenge. You look like you went through a grinder… How many birds were there? Three, four?" Asked the boy, trying to imagine just how difficult it would be to battle with that much flying enemies at once. Link frowned a little in reflection and glanced back at Caspar with his answer.

"No, more like fifteen or so."

Now, both Caspar and Bernadetta's minds had been blown, failing to even comprehend how one could handle this much of this kind of monsters all at the same time. Even the frail girl, who knew of the Hylian's previous exploits against Fodlan's monsters, was flabbergasted. Granted, he was far from unscathed, but the very fact that he survived at all was more than unbelievable. Link's eyes then opened as he remembered a detail.

"Oh, right, there was also a Demonic Beast in the bunch."

Upon hearing this last bit, Caspar shook his head incredulously.

"Nah, you must be kidding. How many were there for real?"

"What do you mean?" Link asked back, genuinely confused. "I'm telling the truth. It was tedious, but I got them all, eventually. All I had to do was to stay in perpetual movement and to watch my back. All is in the defensive play. If you cannot be hurt, then you cannot be beaten."

The Hylian then proudly smiled at his own piece of advice before he glanced down at his own body.

"Well, of course, I hadn't fought this fiercely in… forever, so I was still a bit rusty. But for next time, I should be good to go…"

Now, Bernadetta stepped up and raised a finger, pointing at the various wounds, before she spoke up.

"Are all these the reason why you arrived late today, then?"

"Oh, not entirely…" Responded Link while he slowly stretched. "They hurt, sure, but I just overslept. All the excitement yesterday tired me out completely…"

"Oh, what a relief…" The young Varley muttered as she sighed out. After the little conversation ended, Link took parole again while pointing at Bernadetta's arrow and Caspar in succession.

"By the way, what were you two trying to do, exactly? Trying to practice blocking?"

The blue-haired brawler then sheepishly scratched his head while rubbing his aching jaw with his free hand.

"Yeah, but you came up and kind of derailed it…"

"Ah, I see…" Link then chuckled a bit at the memory of Caspar getting hit across the face by an inattentive Bernie – she really was making progress! Then, his grin grew slightly as he looked at Caspar's shield. "Instead of doing stunts like that, why don't you see how a pro does it first?"

"You mean a demonstration?" Caspar asked with an interested expression. "Sure, count me in!"

With Bernadetta shrugging, indicating that she was at least not opposed to it, Link reached for Caspar small wooden shield and turned to the young Bergliez.

"Tell me, who here could throw me a fireball, or something like that?"

* * *

While the Black Eagles' temporary assistant prepared himself for a little show of skill, the ambiance was quite heavier in the infirmary situated in Manuela's bureau. The songstress was preparing a medicinal mixture while Byleth looked on from the doorframe.

Beside the main bed of the room was a chair in which Claude was sitting. The future leader of the Alliance breathed steadily as he held a small towel to his head. The latter had been infused with ice magic in order to calm the tanned boy's current migraine, nasty gift from a tail's hit to his head. In spite of his own pain and light-headedness, the House Leader's attention was instead on his classmate resting next to him.

In the spacious bed was laying the unfortunate Lorenz. During the night, he had finally managed to fall asleep thanks to Manuela's Faith magic diminishing his pain and accelerating his healing. Now, though, he was awake since a few hours.

His right arm was cast in bandages where the Demonic Beast had cut it open. During the battle, the sheer adrenaline rush had allowed the young Gloucester to disregard the wound as a mere inconvenience. However, after the Beast was defeated, the lessening tension made Lorenz realize just how badly he had been hurt. The Priest of the battalion present at the Red Canyon had to deal with the blood loss and to prevent infection before the youngster arrived to the infirmary.

Then, there was his left arm.

For now, the hand and forearm were wrapped in bandages, just like for the other arm. However, it was still clear from its deformed shape that the hand had swollen since the last day. Unlike the mostly white tissue on the right, the bandages on the left were beginning to be stained with either leaking blood or plasma. Both limbs were completely immobile, as any movement on Lorenz' part felt like torture to the young nobleman.

After glancing worryingly in the bed's direction, Manuela finished her disinfecting medicine and looked at Byleth, who was contenting herself with observing the two young men present with an unnerving calm. The new professor then spoke up, without moving.

"How bad is it?"

After sighing out, Manuela turned to the boys and nodded her chin up at Claude, as she told about him first.

"Claude has gotten a concussion due to the hit he received on the head. He will have headaches for some time, but there shouldn't be permanent symptoms. However, he must rest for the duration of his convalescence. Lorenz' case is much more serious… His right arm seems to have been cut very deeply, in such a manner that renders it difficult for him to move what is further down, like his hand."

"How does this work?" Asked Byleth, giving a quick look in the nurse's direction.

"That, I don't know. How the body exactly works has yet to be discovered. What we do know is that an adequate Faith magic dosage will allow for a full recovery of the arm in relatively short delays."

"And what about his burns?"

"Yes, this is where things get complicated. Not only did the burst of fire burn his skin, but the sheer force of the blow has broken his bones. I fear that all this has damaged his hand permanently."

"…" Byleth frowned slightly. "Can't Faith fix it?"

"Not necessarily. Faith allows the body to accelerate the process of healing that it already has. There will still be scars from healed wounds and injuries that couldn't heal in the first place will not be fixed either."

"…"

A very heavy silence fell upon the room as the two teachers uneasily stared at each other. Meanwhile, both Claude and Lorenz looked on with worry as they had heard the entirety of the conversation. The young Gloucester, in particular, became quite anxious as he glanced at the cast containing his left arm. After a minute of this atmosphere which felt like hours, Byleth sighed and began to walk over to Lorenz, undoubtedly with the intention of speaking to him.

"Lorenz, now you know. With your hand in this state, you won't be able to pursue your training in lances. Ever."

The way in which Byleth matter-of-factly talked of such a serious issue was quite unnerving to the injured young man, who made his best to remain solemn in this situation. No matter how mentally resilient or how calm you usually are, though, being faced with the real possibility to lose a limb would perturb any one, and Lorenz Hellman Gloucester was certainly no exception. Byleth, after a short moment, resumed speaking.

"If you cannot train for battle anymore, then it would be best to have you simply removed from this year's class. I'll make the demand to Seteth; I don't think he will object."

Now, Lorenz stared at his professor with horror as she spoke. Before she could turn around and carry on her plan of actions, he spoke up with a panicked voice.

"I- No! Please, Professor, don't do this yet! I cannot afford to drop out of the Golden Deer, under any circumstance!"

Now, Claude looked down while slightly shaking his head. He and Lorenz did not like each other at all, this was a secret for no one. However, he couldn't feel anything but pity seeing the boy who saved his life in such a pathetic state.

"Hey, listen…" The House Leader spoke up, dropping their usual rivalry for the moment. "After what happened, no one would blame you for going back home."

"He is right, Lorenz." Byleth said in agreement. "It is not the time for pride to cloud your judgement."

Upon hearing those words, the young Gloucester began to frown. Clearly, he did not appreciate the last comment at all.

"This is no mere question of ill-placed pride. My status as the future Count of Gloucester forbids me from failing my duty as a noble. If I abandon here, then…"

"You are afraid that it will set up a bad precedent for you." Said Byleth with the same neutral expression as before.

Despite being completely inept at expressing her own emotions most of the time, the former mercenary was quite talented at reading others'.

As far as she knew, Lorenz Hellman Gloucester was an arrogant, vain and snotty young man, who would judge a person's worth by their ancestry first and foremost. He had a poor opinion of menial labor and would often implicitly refer to his commoner classmates as inferiors to himself.

However, for all of his faults, he was also brilliant and extremely well-mannered. The day before, he had jumped in the fray and gravely injured himself in order to save his classmates, one of which he notably disliked. For him, the 'duty of the nobility' meant that he mustn't fail to protect those who depended on him. This also meant that he would have to keep doing his best, no matter the obstacles, to always be the best man he could ever be.

As such, it was inconceivable for him to abandon the class, despite having nearly lost his left hand and forearm.

"Y-yes. This is exactly it…" Lorenz admitted, looking at his professor with a dumbfounded expression.

"The thing is that you cannot take part in battles without being able to fight." Byleth mentioned.

"I…" For a second, the young Gloucester mentally panicked as he searched for a reason not to kick him out of the class. "I know magic well. I have studied to the Academy of Magic, in Firdhiad. I have met Anette and Mercedes there at the time, you will ask them."

Silence then imposed itself on the room again as Byleth reflected on Lorenz' words. After giving a glance at Manuela, she spoke up.

"Are you sure that you want to focus entirely on magic after what happened?"

"…" For a few seconds, the young Gloucester hesitated to answer. After all, the Professor's question had some very good merit. Someone else would be forgiven for not wanting to use magical energy ever again after such a terrifying incident.

The thing was that he was not someone else. He was Lorenz Hellman Gloucester.

"Yes, Professor, I wish to. I will follow professor Hanneman's seminaries, from now on. We should notify him this ins-…"

As if he was going to get out of bed in order to act on his words, Lorenz suddenly rose up from the comfort of the bed. Immediately, though, his face winced in pain as the movement perturbed his arms and caused him quite a lot of unnecessary pain. Laying back down, the young nobleman let out an exasperated whine as Manuela came to his side.

"Now, now, darling, don't do such things right now. Your seminaries can wait until you're capable of walking…"

While the songstress tended to the boy's wounded arms, Claude moved his chair away to leave her some space and Byleth frowned slightly as she observed the scene.

"**It is utterly unacceptable."** Complained the voice of Sothis in her head. **"To think that children have been sent into this mess. It is a real wonder that it didn't turn to tragedy…"**

* * *

Back in the training area, the students had collectively stopped to talk as they gathered in a group around the demonstration which was about to take place. Jeritza, while staying slightly further behind the youngsters, still looked on with interest.

In the middle of it all, Link was standing tall and straight, examining the training shield that the combat instructor had handled to him in order to determine its balance. Meanwhile, at around twenty feet from him was Hubert, who glanced quite unsurely at Edelgard before he addressed the Hylian.

"You must be sure that your technique works, Mister Link…"

"Oh, it will work, don't worry. Just focus on your magic balls and everything will be alright." Assured the outsider as he took a defensive stance, placing the shield in front of him.

The demonstration was simple: Hubert had to use one of his Miasma Delta attacks on Link. This is all that he had been told, other than that the Hylian apparently had a move which would make the attack useless. While talented with magic, Dorothea couldn't be the one attacking Link, due to the latter claiming that his technique doesn't work on lightning.

Once he was sure to be well placed, Link spoke up, still focused on Hubert's person first and foremost.

"What I'm about to do, kids, is called a 'Shield Bash'. It's made by, well, bashing your shield at whatever is going to attack you…"

"Using your shield as a blunt weapon is already a popular tactic, how will this be different?" Asked Ferdinand, who was scrutinizing Link's every movement.

"This is a really good question, and I'll answer you by showing it. Before that, though, I'll begin with taking two or three attacks just defending with the shield… Only to get the timing right."

At this, Hubert frowned a little and tilted his head in questioning. 'Timing'? What was this man up to again?

Despite his personal reservations about the whole situation, the young Vestra still prepared his Dark Magic, if only not to cause an unnecessary scene. Thus, he shot Miasma Delta once…

And stopped right on Link's shield. The Hylian, on his part, barely recoiled back and firmly stood his ground.

"Again." He demanded as the rest of the students were either confused or intrigued by the demonstration.

Hubert thus shot a second time, with the exact same result as the first one. However, as the smoke cleared away and the vassal got a glimpse of Link's visage, he found out that the outsider was actually sporting an expression of deep focus, bopping his head at regular intervals as if to count time.

"Alright, one last time…" Link said again, tensing his body and bending his knees further. "Although you may want to get ready to step aside, kid."

Now, Hubert was beginning to get an idea of what exactly the Hylian had in mind. However, he disregarded it for now, as the idea was a bit too far-fetched, especially from a man incapable of using magic himself. He shot a third ball of Dark Magic, which advanced towards the Hylian. Nothing suggested that the aftermath of this would be any different than the other two…

However, right as Miasma Delta was about to hit Link, his arm holding the shield moved. Quickly, sharply, the blond outsider outright hit the attack with his wooden shield. While everyone present simply expected the Dark Magic to explode in his face, the result was quite different.

Indeed, by some sort of sorcery, the Shield Bash didn't cause the Miasma Delta to explode. Instead, the ball of magic was sent straight back to the user. Right after Hubert jumped to the side in order to escape his reflected attack, the latter went all the way to one of the pillars surrounding the arena and pulverized it.

Link, looking at the damage caused, cringed a little at the idea of having to pay for this too after the gong of the mock battle…

The students, meanwhile, had quite a different reaction to the event. Most were shocked, but impressed by the unforeseen technique, while Bernadetta simply gawked while squeezing like an excited child. Edelgard, on her part, had her eyes widen as she mentally took note of Link's movements. After a little moment, the Hylian stood up and addressed the little crowd gathered around him.

"And this, kids, is how you perform a Shield Bash. You can perform it with anything, as long as you know what you're doing…" As he said this, Link smiled as he recalled killing Guardians with cooking pot covers. "With the right timing, even the mightiest attacks will do nothing… As long as it's physically blockable, anyway… Got any question?"

Right after he said this, Link found himself assailed by the students of the class, whose questions ranged from the specific movements that were needed for the technique to work, to see it again, or else how the heck it was even possible. Meanwhile, Hubert dusted himself off as he scoffed in the outsider's direction.

Later, after a good twenty minutes of exhausting interrogations, Link was finally able to get a little moment of silence, as only Caspar and Bernadetta remained to his side. Soon enough, though, the diminutive brawler couldn't help himself but ask a last thing.

"Hey, Link, you are very strong and all, but I've never heard you talk of the adventures you had before…"

"Huh?" Link looked over to the boy in confusion.

"I mean, how do you even know this shield move? How are you so strong? You must have been one hell of a badass where you're from!"

"Oh, that…" The Hylian let out a small sigh as he scratched the side of his head. "This is a really long story…"

Then, the outsider's eyes widened as he got an idea.

"I know! This evening, after dinner, come rejoin me at the market place, near Anna's stand. I will tell you a story of my homeland. I was not the only 'badass' there."

Hearing this, Bernadetta finally made her presence known with an elongated gasp, jumping in place.

"Oh, which one? A new one?"

"Hm, I don't know…" Link admitted as he looked down in reflection. "Maybe not something new… What about the first one I told you about?"

"You mean the one where-"

"Hey, hey now!" Link interrupted the frail girl and raised his finger at her. "Don't go spoiling it for your friend!"

"Yeah, that would do, I guess…" Caspar said with a slightly disappointed expression. He would have preferred to hear about one of Link's own adventures first, but that could also be fun. Better than studying anyway… "Why don't we invite the Ashe guy from the Blue Lions? I've seen him sometimes and he really loves this kind of stuff…"

"Oh, right, the little Ashe…" Link repeated. He had mostly focused on the Black Eagles' class lately, due to Bernadetta, but he did teach a few tricks to Ashe as well. "Very well, tell him the news, I'll be waiting for you all tonight. Got it?"

"Ha, you bet!" Exclaimed the blue-haired brawler while giving a thumbs up. Bernadetta, on her part, simply nodded.

At this moment, the young Cyril entered the arena, looking around in search of someone. Once he took notice of the trio formed by Link, Bernadetta and Caspar, he hurried his pace to rejoin them as quickly as possible.

"Hey, you were the guy called Link, right?"

Looking aside, the Hylian smiled slightly as he recognized the Almyran boy. He gave a small hand wave as he responded.

"Yeah, I am. You were… Cyril! That's it…" Then, Link tilted his head to the side in curiosity. "Why are you here?"

"It's Professor Hanneman. He wants to see you right now."

At this, the blond outsider frowned as he struggled to remember just who this 'Hanneman' person was. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but otherwise Link had no memory of him.

"He does, now? Is it urgent?" Asked the Hylian with a slightly annoyed eyebrow raise.

"He looked a bit impatient, so yeah, I guess. Do you need me to show you where his office is?"

"No, it'll be alright. Tell him I'm coming…"

At this, Cyril shrugged nonchalantly before going back to whatever task he had been assigned to before being sent to the training grounds. Meanwhile, Link uttered a sigh as Bernadetta pouted.

"Oh, you had just arrived…" complained the frail girl.

"Yeah, I know, but maybe it's important. Just go back to your training and come to meet me after dinner."

On this, Link went on his way to Hanneman's office, wondering what this guy could have to discuss about.

* * *

When the Hylian finally arrived at the location of Hanneman's office, he took a glance aside and slowly read the inscription describing the room.

"_Crest Research Laboratory"_

After having decrypted the words, Link frowned a little as he recalled of the things that Jonas told him about Crests. However, the nobleman wasn't much of an expert on the matter, so he only knew that they were important to nobles and had some obscure power.

He glanced inside and took notice of a tall and lanky man with greying hair, who was in the middle of a discussion with a much shorter and older man. As Link cleared his throat, both of their attentions were directed on him, with the taller one speaking first.

"Ah! Finally, Mister Link! I do not think that I had introduced myself properly to you yet!" He then performed the small bow that was a common greeting gesture in Fodlan. "I am Hanneman, the teacher of the Blue Lions this year."

As Link nodded down in turn, the second man present approached him and smiled kindly as he spoke up as well.

"And I am Tomas, the librarian. I I am quite pleased to meet you. I wanted to assist to this discussion, as I am quite curious toward you."

"Yeah, okay." Link responded blandly before he looked over to Hanneman with a raised eyebrow. "So, what is it that you need me for?"

"Of course, pardon me. I will go straight to the point: I wished to talk of the strange abilities that you showcased during the battle at Zanado yesterday."

"Oh, that…" Link became uneasy as he glanced at the researcher and librarian in succession. "Alright, what about them?"

"Simply of how they function, at first. According to the knights, you used a red sphere as a shield against one of the Beasts, am I correct?"

"Yup, I did." Since he already knew that the other two would want him to elaborate further, Link decided not to waste time. "It's a magical power that a guy in Hyrule taught me. I don't know how it works, but I can turn it on and off at will."

"Pardon me?" Tomas asked with a quite pronounced frown. "How can you use such a complicated magical technique masterfully with no knowledge of its functioning?"

"This is a very long story, and I don't want to tell it to just anyone." Link retorted, crossing his arms. "Besides, I couldn't teach it to anyone, so I can't help you."

"I see…" Hanneman muttered with slight disappointment before he looked up at the Hylian again. "There is still one more thing that I wanted to ask. Would you let me perform a test on your blood?"

Now, Link was beginning to get weirded out, not to mention a little suspicious. He observed the researcher carefully and frowned.

"Why? Aren't Crests hereditary?"

"Yes, they are, and I wouldn't normally bother with it on an outsider. However, some events let me believe that you could, despite minimal odds, be a Crest bearer."

"And how the heck could I be?" Asked Link with a confused expression.

"You see, Mister Link, the descendants of a Crest bearer will always have a possibility of having their ancestor's Crest, even if the chances of it diminish the more generations pass. It is not impossible that, in the millennium that Crests have existed in Fodlan, one noble quitted Adestria and travelled all the way to Hyrule, where he would have had a family of which you are the descendant. After all, you have come here in only a few years."

"Okay, I see your logic here." Link admitted while nodding. "Although I don't know what makes you suspect me in particular. Why not check Cyril too? Almyra's closer to Fodlan, I heard…"

"This, Link, is because of your exploits in Garreg Mach. Ashe has spoken of your talent in archery, as well as your sheer agility. Your fight with over a dozen monsters yesterday alone would be unthinkable for a regular person…"

"And to this…" Added Tomas. "We can add the apparent instantaneous mastery of a complicated spell, without even the basic knowledge of magic use. This seems like the Crest of Gloucester to me."

"Unnaturally high strength is rather similar to Blaiddyd or Fraldarius, however…" Hanneman retorted.

Now, Link rolled his eyes slightly as he uncrossed his arms.

"Okay, I can understand where you're coming from. However, I can assure you that these things are not affected by a Crest of any sort."

"Hm." Tomas smiled again as he observed Link closely. "And how would you be so sure of this, without the knowledge of Crests? Is the average Hylian as powerful and skilled as you are?"

As he was about to respond, Link actually hesitated for a second as Hanneman and Tomas' words echoed through his head. Despite being in doubt of their theory at first, the outsider had to admit that he was one of the only Hylians who could defend themselves at all against anything other than a Bokoblin. Even Sidon feared the Red Lynel living near his home.

He had been told that he was one of the Hylian goddesses' 'chosen ones' in his childhood, but what if this was all bogus? Now that he thought of it, this was actually a reasonable explanation.

"Alright, I'll give you credit, it's convincing… What now?"

Upon hearing this, Hanneman grinned and rubbed his hands together before he explained the basic outlines of his projector's functioning. Following this, he took care to take a fresh sample of blood from the Hylian and put it in the device.

The inconceivable then happened.

As he booted up the device, the office's floor began to glow, indicating a successful detection. Link curiously looked over, Hanneman was becoming extremely excited, and Tomas' eyes widened in what looked like fright.

However, when the projected image came into view, the Crest researcher and the librarian found themselves quite disappointed. Indeed, instead of showing the usually beautiful patterns of a Crest, the image was blurry, with a vague spherical white form being surrounded by a purple outline. Hanneman sighed out as he went to his device.

"Hey, uh, is it supposed to be like that? Is it a Crest?" Link asked out while glancing at Tomas. The latter shrugged as Hanneman responded.

"No, Mister. This usually occurs when several Crests are present in the analysis at once. There must have been a contamination…" Said the researcher as he cleaned the glass lens of his machine thoroughly.

In order to be sure that everything worked just fine, he tested it once with his own blood, and as a result the machine showed the Crest of Indech, as it should. He then cleaned once more and booted it up again. This time, there was no reaction, sign that no further contamination was present.

Now, Link was becoming impatient. However, Hanneman was able to test the Hylian another time with an apologetic smile.

"I am sorry for the waste of time. Now, the result should be more conclusive…"

The three men then looked on attentively as the projector was about to show Link's actual Crest, or so they thought.

Once more, the image came blurry, which frustrated Hanneman, quite a lot in fact.

"Well, it seems that we have gotten unlucky with your samples…" He said while shaking his head. "If you would be so kind, could I have a few strands of hair from you, Link? I will let you go, so I need more samples to run successful tests…"

"Uh… Yeah, you get what you need…" Link answered, still staring at the indecisive image in the middle of the room. Tomas seemed to be quite bummed as well, if his slight pout was of any indication.

After another apology from Hanneman and fulfilling his strange request, Link went out of the office with quite mixed feelings.

On one hand, it was quite exciting to know that he may very well be a rare Crest bearer of Hyrule. On the other hand, he had no idea of what it was, how it worked, how it looked or even if it was really the case at all, or just a fantasy of the Blue Lions' professor.

As such, it was with a lot of questions, and very few answers, that Link exited the floor in order to go for lunch.

* * *

Not far from Garreg Mach, in one of the numerous dense forests that surrounded the monastery, was waiting the tall white-bearded man known by some as Thales. Despite the calm of his surroundings, he was looking around him regularly so he could destroy anyone who would happen to witness his presence.

After he gave a scornful look at the buildings in view, he turned around calmly as a pillar of light crashed into the ground near him. Where the teleportation spell had landed was now standing Tomas, who scanned the forest around him before he finally took notice of Thales.

Then, dropping the kindly expression that he usually wore when interacting with the people of Garreg Mach, the librarian adopted a disdainful face while sparks of Dark Magic began to emanate from him. His entire body ended up being engulfed in dark flames and, once they were extinguished, Solon had recovered his true form, protruding veins and all. His leader then spoke up to him with a quite pronounced frown.

"Solon, I require explanations for your failure of yesterday."

At first, the deformed man sighed out as he pinched the upper part of his nose.

"There isn't much to explain, Master Thales. This little vermin proved itself to be more capable than I had estimated. Even the horde of monsters that I sent after him were absolutely no match…"

"I suppose that his 'Slate', as he calls it, is still in his possession?"

"Indeed, it is, unfortunately. However, I have discovered something of much importance today. The Crest researcher attempted to examine his blood to search for a Crest, but the device seemed contaminated by several ones. The fool blamed it on a malfunction or an improper procedure, but…"

Now, Thales' expression became uncharacteristically shocked as he listened to his subordinate.

"What are you implying, Solon?"

"I believe that the people of Hyrule may very well have found the answer to what we have been searching for the last decades."

* * *

Later that day, the outsider Link came back from the nearby woods, where he had been eating in peace, and arrived in the marketplace in order to wait for the three youngsters that he had asked to meet him. He glanced up at the sun and determined that it would take another hour before it went completely over the horizon, letting night take over.

At first, he had wanted to organize his little story night near Anna's stand, because he figured that she wouldn't mind his prolonged presence. The merchant had proposed to him that he makes a wood fire in the forest nearby for a more appropriate ambiance, but Link heavily doubted that Seteth would tolerate him bringing the students out of the monastery's grounds after the fall of night. As such, he had devised a compromise: a wood fire at Anna's stand. The latter didn't object, since it didn't affect her business and would give her some entertainment as she made counts again.

The first to get out of the main gate of the monastery was, of course, Bernadetta. She had finished the small portion that she had taken at the cafeteria and had undoubtedly been impatient to rejoin her... Her what?

As the little girl waved her hand at Link, the latter was dumbfounded to discover that he was unable to describe their relationship with a single word. He certainly wasn't a _mentor_ or a _teacher_, he didn't earn such titles. Friends was more adequate, he thought.

"Hey, Link! Hi!" Yelled Bernadetta, jogging excitedly toward the Hylian.

"Hey, Bernie. I guess Caspar and Ashe aren't done eating yet?"

"Um, I couldn't say, really…" Admitted the girl as she looked down. "I'm sorry, I should have-"

"Don't worry about that." Link interrupted her before he booted up his Shiekah Slate. As he searched through the food menus, he glanced at his protégé. "Was the food good tonight? I have no idea of what they served…"

"It wasn't that much special, to be honest… But I wasn't really hungry, anyway."

"I see…" Simply said Link while searching for the logs of wood in his inventory. He had found a little snack for her, but he would give it once he began the story. At that point, the thin forms of Ashe and Caspar appear over at the gate, causing Link to divert his attention from Bernadetta for a moment. "And here come the boys."

Once the little group was finally united, Link clapped his hands together as he explained the planned activity of the evening. Once he was finished, Ashe raised his hand slightly.

"Hey, Mister Link, it was a knight's tale, or an adventure tale, right? No ghost stories?"

"Uh, I guess you could call it a knight story…" Link hesitantly responded while scratching his head.

"Come on now…" Caspar joked while glancing at the young archer. "Ghosts aren't even real anyway, it's just fun stories."

"Oh, no, ghosts are totally real." Link added bluntly as he began to walk over to the intended spot of the storytelling. "But friendly, for the most part."

With a grunt from the freckled boy, the four installed themselves around the place where Link had demonstrated his potion formula days ago. As he sat down, Caspar sniffed out the air and his face twisted slightly in disgust.

"Ugh, what's with that smell…"

"It's probably Anna who's trying the potions I showed her. Not quite there, but she's getting better." Link responded as he lighted up the little fireplace, on which the cooking pot had been removed.

And thus, Link prepared himself to narrate the story as the sun was beginning to set. Caspar and Ashe were sitting in front of him, from the other side of the fire, while Bernadetta had placed herself right next to the outsider.

"Now, let me tell you the story of _The Battle for Vah'Naboris_…"

* * *

**Author's notes:**

**And that's it for this chapter. Sorry for the yet again longer delay, but I've gotten a new job at long last which leaves me a bit more tired during the evening.**

**So, the aftermath of the battle of Zanado. Lorenz' in a pretty rough shape, everyone's tense, and Solon seems to have plans for our favorite Hylian. I wonder what…**

**Next chapter will be quite different from the rest of the story so far. Instead of starting off the Lonato arc, it will be entirely about Link's retelling of the events of Vah'Naboris.**

**Also, be sure to check out a new story that I plan to post around the same time as Chapter 11: **_**"The Pride of Almyra"**_**! A sort-of sequel to the Crimson Flower route, but which will focus on some unforeseen consequences of Edelgard's war on the rest of Fodlan.**

**Until then, it's about it for the notes today. Once more, I thank all of you for your support and feedback, and I wish you a good day. May this blasted virus spare you all.**


End file.
